Vitaly Zdorovetskiy

Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (/vɪˈtæli zəˌdɒrəˈvjɛtski/ vih-TAL-ee zə-DORR-ə-VYET-skee; Russian: Вита́лий Здорове́цкий, IPA: [vʲɪˈtalʲɪj zdərɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪj]; born March 8, 1992), better known by his YouTube username VitalyzdTv, is a Russian born-American YouTube personality, content creator and website owner.[1] Zdorovetskiy's YouTube videos, as of November 2019, have reached over 1.7 billion views and over 10 million subscribers, while his vlog channel has more than 270 million views and 2.0 million subscribers.

Vitaly Zdorovetskiy
Personal information
BornVitaly Zdorovetsky
(1992-03-08) March 8, 1992
Murmansk, Murmansk Oblast, Russia
OriginBoca Raton, Florida, United States
NationalityRussian-American
OccupationYouTube personality, actor, businessman
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–present
Genre
Subscribers10.2+ million
(January 11, 2021)
Total views1.7+ billion
(January 24, 2020)
NetworkMaker (2011–2014)
Collective Digital (2014–present)
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers 2014
1,000,000 subscribers 2013
10,000,000 subscribers 2019
Updated: November 19, 2019

Early life and education

Zdorovetskiy was born in a Russian-Jewish family in Murmansk in 1992. As a child, he lived in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. Zdorovetskiy grew up in Boca Raton, Florida.

Zdorovetskiy attempted to become a professional skateboarder at an early age but quit due to injuries.[2]

In the video titled "Why I Did Porn!", Zdorovetskiy tells his audience he got his first job at age 15 as a garbage collector making $5.00 an hour. His second job was a sign-spinner dressed as Uncle Sam making $20 for 3 hours of work. After that, Vitaly picked up a job as a bus boy at a restaurant in Miami, Florida. Shortly after turning 18, Zdorovetskiy took part in an adult film scene with pornographic actress Diamond Kitty for the adult entertainment company Bang Bros in 2011.[2]

Career

In 2012, Zdorovetskiy received his first significant success, with the video "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" Inspired by the cannibal attack of a homeless man in Miami in May 2012, Zdorovetskiy dressed up as a zombie and traveled to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami to scare random bystanders. By January 2015, the "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" had been viewed more than 30 million times.[2] A sequel video prank was produced in Columbus, Ohio.

On June 16, 2012, Zdorovetskiy and cameraman Jonathan Vanegas filmed the "Russian Hitman Prank". As part of the prank, Zdorovetskiy approached a Boca Raton Resort man and informed him they had 60 seconds to get away from a briefcase he placed on the ground. After Zdorovetskiy revealed the whole thing to be a prank and that there was a hidden camera nearby, the man started attacking him and his partner and called the police. Zdorovetskiy was arrested by Boca Raton police department, facing a maximum of 15 years in prison[3] on charges of threatening to detonate a bomb. At the time of the prank, Zdorovetskiy's YouTube channel had only about 100,000 subscribers, but after the incident his channel grew to over four million subscribers within just over a year.[4]

On July 20, 2013, Zdorovetskiy released the video "Extreme Homeless Man Makeover", in which he befriends a homeless man named Martin and provides him with new clothes and a hotel room. The video posting resulted in a job offer that Martin accepted.[5] He was also reunited with his wife. The project also included an attempt to raise money to have Martin's teeth fixed, for which Zdorovetskiy was able to raise about $10,000 online. The fundraising campaign was canceled before it was completed, because of Zdorovetskiy's criminal history. However, Zdorovetskiy received several offers from surgeons to do the dental work for free.[6] The surgery and the video story was featured on television news casts including the Good Day LA Fox morning show.[7]

His "Gold Digger Prank", featuring a woman who rejects his advances until she believes he drives a Lamborghini Gallardo sports car,[8] generated more than 18 million views in its first week of posting,[9] making VitalyzdTV the third most watched YouTube channel in the world during that week with over 45 million views.[10]

On October 15, 2014, Zdorovetskiy pulled a prank which involved himself dressing up as Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, pretending to saw off the legs of Hanhart syndrome patient Nick Santonastasso with a chainsaw in front of unsuspecting witnesses.[11] The prank went viral, receiving over 30 million views in 3 weeks.

While being in Croatia in 2015, he pranked former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader, while Sanader was leaving Remetinec prison where he was serving his sentence for corruption charges by jumping on Sanader's car while he and his lawyers were inside.[12]

Criminal record

In 2014, Zdorovetskiy was arrested for invading the field during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina in Brazil.[13]

On May 25, 2016, Zdorovetskiy was arrested for trespassing after climbing the Hollywood Sign, as part of a video stunt.[14] On June 10, Zdorovetskiy was again arrested for streaking during Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors with authorities quickly apprehending and arresting the YouTuber.[15]

During the bottom of the 7th inning in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, he was arrested for running onto the field at Minute Maid Park shortly after Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros hit a home run.[16]

Zdorovetskiy is currently facing a ban from attending major sporting events for his antics and his girlfriend Kinsey Wolanski is likely to get a similar ban. However, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final between England and New Zealand, Zdorovetskiy's mother, Elena Vulitsky attempted to emulate her son's girlfriend's success at the Champions League final.[17] Vulitsky was pictured wearing clothing with the "Vitaly Uncensored" logo on it, but was stopped by stewards from streaking.

In January 2020, Zdorovetskiy was arrested and spent five days in an Egyptian jail after climbing the Pyramids of Giza.[18]

In April 2020, Zdorovetskiy was arrested and later charged for aggravated battery by Miami Beach Police. Zdorovetskiy allegedly tackled a female jogger and struck her multiple times in the head and chest.[19] He was released from custody after posting a $7,500 bond.[20][21]

Personal life

Zdorovetskiy currently lives in Los Angeles, California. In November 2015, Lionsgate officially acquired worldwide distribution rights for a film in which he starred, Natural Born Pranksters.[22] Upon its debut, Natural Born Pranksters was panned by viewers, with an average user rating of 3.6 out of 10 on IMDb,[23] and a 3.3 out of 10 on Metacritic.[24]

References
  1. "Vitaly Uncensored".
  2. Bryant Eng (February 5, 2013). "FAU's Prank-Star: Vitaly Zdorovetskiy". University Press Online. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  3. Clarkson, Brett; Komenda, Ed; Sentinel, Sun (July 17, 2012). "'Miami Zombie Attack' pranksters Jonathan Vanegas, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy arrested after prank fails". wptv.com. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  4. Chase Hoffberger (June 17, 2012). "YouTube Rascal Vitaly Zdorovetskiy arrested for bomb hoax". Daily Dot. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  5. Jeff Nadel (December 8, 2013). "Youtube pranksters gone good". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  6. Terrence McCoy (August 13, 2013). "Indiegogo Closes Vitaly Zdorovetskiy's Campaign To Fix Homeless Guy's Teeth". Palm Beach New Times. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  7. Jeffrey Thomas DeSocio (November 6, 2013). "Vitaly: The Extreme Homeless Makeover". Fox 11. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  8. "Viral 'Gold Digger Prank' Shows Woman Reject Guy For Date…Until She Sees He Drives a Lamborghini or other expensive cars". The Blaze. October 15, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  9. Mike Shields (October 22, 2013). "Gold Digger Prank Nabs 18 Million YouTube Views in a Week Motorboarding for breast cancer, Aquaman round out VideoWatch ranker". Adweek. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  10. Joshua Cohen (October 26, 2013). "Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide – Week Of 10/25/13". TubeFilter. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  11. Scott Stump. "'Dead' man living: Disabled teen-turned-Internet star 'lives by inspiring others'". TODAY.com.
  12. "Vitaly Zdorovetsky Rided Sanader's Car". T portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  13. White, Ted (January 4, 2018). "Youtube celebrity kicked out of Boca Raton Resort and Club, hours after checking in". WPBF. Boca Raton. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  14. "YouTube Star Arrested After Climbing Hollywood Sign". Variety. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  15. "Youtuber VitalyZDTV Streaks 2016 NBA Finals". Opencourt Basketball. 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  16. "Shirtless fan runs onto the field in Game 5 of the World Series - NY Daily News". NY Daily News. October 30, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  17. "World Cup 2019: Streaker attempts pitch invasion in ENG vs NZ final". Indian Express. Guwahati. July 14, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  18. "YouTuber's five days of hell in Egypt prison after climbing pyramids to take selfies". Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  19. "A Huge YouTuber Has Been Arrested For Allegedly Attacking A Woman Out For A Jog". Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  20. "YouTube star Vitaly Zdorovetskiy arrested for attacking female jogger". New York Post. April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  21. "YouTube prankster arrested after attack on Miami Beach jogger, TMZ reports". SunSentinel. April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  22. Waxman, Olivia B. "Lionsgate Picks Up Movie About YouTube Pranksters". TIME.com. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  23. "Natural Born Pranksters (2016) - IMDb". IMDB.com. IMDb. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  24. "Natural Born Pranksters Reviews". Metacritic.com. Metacritic. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
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