Fantastic Adventures scandal

The Fantastic Adventures scandal was a 2019 scandal in involving the YouTube channel Fantastic Adventures, run by Machelle Hackney Hobson of Maricopa, Arizona, United States. The scandal began when one of Hobson's biological children contacted the police after witnessing her adopted siblings (Felipe, Summer, Elijah, Hailey, Jacob, Grayson and one unidentified child) being systematically abused by her mother.[1][2][3] Fantastic Adventures gained worldwide media attention because of Hobson's motive of abuse towards the adopted children.[4][5][6]

Machelle Hackney Hobson
Personal information
BornMachelle Hobson
1969, 1970 or 1971
Maricopa, Arizona, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 2019 (aged 48-50)
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
OriginMaricopa, Arizona, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationYouTube personality, comedian, director
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–2019
GenreComedy
SubscribersChannel terminated (800,726 at peak)
Total views250,405,180
100,000 subscribers 2018
Updated: March 20, 2019

Background

Machelle Hackney Hobson's YouTube channel, Fantastic Adventures, was created on June 17, 2012, and ultimately gained 800,726 subscribers.[7] In 2011, Hobson's former husband had stated that she pulled their daughter Megan from school in order to take care of her adopted children. In 2017, a child that was involved in Hobson's videos was seen streaking through the neighborhood, raising suspicions among the neighbors.[8]

On March 13, 2019, Megan reported her mother to police.[9] The report came after many of Hobson's neighbors had reported suspicious activity regarding Fantastic Adventures and called the Department of Child Safety (DCS) more than fifteen times to her house.[10] According to Hobson's Instagram account, one of her adopted daughters, Hailey, was legally blind.[11]

Death

Hobson died in a Scottsdale hospital on November 12, 2019, having been released from jail in June and declared not competent to stand trial in August.[12] All seven children were removed from the home and placed into foster care after Hobson's death, and Fantastic Adventures's earnings were sent to the children who had appeared on the channel.[13]

Reactions
  • Torrie Taj, CEO of Child Crisis Arizona called the mother behind the scandal a "master manipulator" and stated that Hobson did not have the qualification to adopt children.[14]
  • YouTube announced that it would be working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find any users who were abusing children and that anyone who was convicted would have their channel terminated.[15][1]
  • Tariq Nasheed posted a tweet with the hashtag "#FirstThem" in response to the horrific sexual abuse by Hobson.[16]
  • Linda and Terry Jamison condemned the abuse by retweeting a news story by one of an ABC affiliate and made predictions regarding the case.[17]
  • Philip DeFranco made a video regarding the scandal.[18]
  • Another popular kids channel, ExtremeToys TV, condemned the abuse.[19]

See also
  • DaddyOFive, a similar scandal involving a channel carrying out child abuse on YouTube

References
  1. "A YouTuber Who Earned Thousands from Videos of Her Kids Performing Was Charged with Child Abuse".
  2. Nadeau, Barbie Latza (20 March 2019). "Cops: YouTube Mom Pepper-Sprayed 'Fantastic Adventure' Kid Stars to Force Them to Perform". The Daily Beast – via www.thedailybeast.com.
  3. Colburn, Randall. "YouTube's popular Fantastic Adventures channel terminated after reports of child abuse". News.
  4. "Enfants battus : La mère interpellée, YouTube ferme leur chaîne "Fantastic Adventures"".
  5. Sarah Duhieu (2019-03-21). "États-Unis : elle maltraitait ses enfants pour gagner des vues sur Youtube" (in French). Rtl.fr. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  6. "US mum 'starved YouTube channel kids'". BBC News. 2019-03-20.
  7. "machellehobson YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics - Socialblade.com". Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  8. "Child of YouTube creator accused of abuse, torture seen running naked through the neighborhood: Police". 2019-03-21.
  9. "Police Report: Popular YouTuber Children Were Starved, Beaten, Pepper-Sprayed by Mother".
  10. "Maricopa police arrest woman for abusing 7 adopted children". YouTube. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  11. "Fantastic on Instagram: "This weeks highlight is Hailey: Hailey has come a very long way in her life and we are so very proud of her! Hailey was adopted from foster…"". Instagram.com. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  12. "Machelle Hobson Dies at Hospital in Scottsdale". ABC15. 2019-11-13.
  13. "YouTube star accused of abusing her 7 adoptive children dies in hospital".
  14. "Signs missed? Mom with kids on YouTube accused of abuse". 2019-03-21.
  15. "'It's the wild, Wild West': Unlike professional actors, YouTube child stars have fewer protections".
  16. "Tariq Nasheed on Twitter: "#FirstThem Fantastic Adventures' YouTube star charged with child abuse; allegedly forced 7 adopted children to act in videos". Twitter.com. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  17. "Jamison Twins on Twitter: "#Predictions2019: Machelle Hobson, the mother of "Fantastic Adventures" YouTube channel, has been indicted on 30 counts of kidnapping and abuse of her 5 children #YouTube #Scandals"". Twitter.com. 2019-03-29. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  18. "The Horrible "Fantastic Adventures" Mother Abuse Scandal, James Charles Ad Debate, SCOTUS & More". YouTube. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  19. "Star accused of abusing her adoptive kids | GMA". YouTube. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
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