The Fanvault blog
From the Vault.
Creator stories, platform updates, and actionable tips for fans and sellers
Andrew and Tristan Tate just got arrested in Miami. The UK wants them for 59 counts.
U.S. Marshals arrested Andrew and Tristan Tate in Miami on Saturday on a UK extradition warrant for 59 counts, including seven rape charges against Andrew and additional trafficking charges against Tristan. The biggest paid-education creator empire on the internet now has to prove whether 200,000 subscribers signed up for the curriculum or the guy.
Kai Cenat is being sued for $330K over Streamer University, and every creator IRL event is now on the clock
A New Jersey streamer is suing Kai Cenat LLC and Night Media, Inc. for $330K, alleging the June 12 Streamer University audition in Manhattan used him as unpaid 'background talent' and nearly gave him heatstroke twice.
Ludwig broke down his $1.1M June on video. $800K was sponsors.
Ludwig Ahgren walked 120 students through his $1,135,400 June 2026 income line by line at Streamer University, and the slide shows sponsors delivered $800K while Twitch subs delivered $57.6K. It is the clearest artifact yet of where top-creator money actually lives.
Jaylen Brown just got traded off the Celtics. His Twitch streams got him there.
The Celtics traded 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers, and rival executives told reporters his Twitch streams were part of the reason. Twenty-four hours later, Brown streamed his side of the story to 30,000 concurrent viewers.
The Chocolate Guy just signed with UTA. Amaury Guichon is going Hollywood.
The Chocolate Guy is going Hollywood. Amaury Guichon just signed with UTA, and the 96-million-follower deal is Hollywood formally admitting food-craft creators are now A-list.
IShowSpeed just landed the World Cup closing ceremony next to Tom Cruise. A streamer at the biggest stage on Earth.
FIFA just booked IShowSpeed, a 21-year-old streamer with 150M+ followers, onto the World Cup Final closing ceremony lineup next to Post Malone, Tom Cruise, and Robbie Williams. That is a first, and it happened because his song outperformed everyone else's on the official FIFA album.
Beehiiv just added a Discord, an AI, and programmatic ads. Substack should be nervous.
Beehiiv's first-ever Summer Release Event dropped Community chat, an AI Copilot, and programmatic ads in one keynote. The consolidation era just got its loudest flag, and Substack should be nervous.
Kick's CEO called StableRonaldo a viewbot. He answered with $266K in Twitch checks.
Kick CEO Eddie Craven called StableRonaldo a 90% viewbotter. StableRonaldo opened his Twitch dashboard live, showed $266K in a single month, and rewrote how creators defend themselves in public.
The Skywalkers Climbed the Empire State, Got Engaged, Then Got Arrested. It Worked.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov snuck into the Empire State Building, scaled the 1,450-foot antenna spire, and got engaged at the top. Then came 8 felony-heavy charges and 72 hours of global coverage: the 2026 creator playbook, made literal.
Wonderloom just bought Dr. Insanity. YouTube channels are now Hollywood acquisition targets.
Content Partners launched Wonderloom Media on July 14 and immediately bought Dr. Insanity, a 5.3M-subscriber YouTube true-crime channel. The mid-market rollup era just started.
Instagram just let creators drop affiliate links straight into Reels. Feeds are the checkout now.
Instagram just handed creators the checkout button. Eligible creators can now drop up to 30 affiliate product links directly into Reels, and Meta is taking zero commission on the sales at launch.
Rhett and Link just made Netflix and YouTube release the same show on the same day.
Netflix just agreed to release Good Mythical Morning day-and-date with YouTube every weekday starting September 7, 2026. It's the first non-exclusive same-day streamer deal for a name-brand YouTuber, and it flips the walled-garden playbook on its head.
YouTube just spelled it out: fake AI 'doctors' and 'lawyers' get you demonetized.
YouTube's July 13, 2026 clarification puts fake AI 'doctors,' 'lawyers,' and 'podcast hosts' on a public demonetization list, six months after a single enforcement wave wiped 4.7B views from 16 top-100 AI channels.
TikTok just handed creators the NBA, ESPN, and 650 more leagues. Licensed sports clips are the new organic content.
TikTok's July 10 partnership with WSC Sports opens fully licensed footage from the NBA, ESPN, YouTubeTV, LaLiga, and 650+ other rights holders to vetted creators, no takedown risk, no gray zone. Sports content on TikTok just became a legit distribution channel, and the monetization race is on.
MrBeast broke his Saturday YouTube streak with a one-line wedding tease on X
MrBeast skipped his ritual Saturday YouTube upload on July 11, 2026, and used one X post to tease his wedding to Thea Booysen. What that choice says about a 500M-subscriber creator's actual distribution stack is the story.
Good Good just formalized its Dude Perfect deal. Two creator empires, one merch aisle.
Good Good and Dude Perfect just formalized a full licensing deal: co-branded hats, royalty payments, and Good Good talent at all 22 stops of Dude Perfect's Squad Games arena tour. Here's why it's the first real brand-to-brand IP deal between two YouTube empires.
Ludwig proposed to QTCinderella on a pizza box. Streaming just got its power couple.
Ludwig proposed to QTCinderella with a pizza box on July 10, 2026, capping six years together and fusing the streaming industry's two most operationally powerful people into one household brand. Here's what the pizza-box launch says about creator power couples.
The Dolan Twins Broke Their Five-Year YouTube Silence, and It Wasn't a Vlog
Ethan and Grayson Dolan just dropped their first YouTube upload in five years, a seven-minute scripted Rolex-heist short they wrote and directed. 9.5 million dormant subs still lit up like it was 2018.
Lizzo is now a Streamer University professor. She applied for the job.
Kai Cenat's Streamer University 2026 reveal pulled over 1 million concurrent viewers across Twitch and YouTube, and the professor list confirms Grammy-caliber legacy talent is now applying to be taught by a 24-year-old creator.
Reckless Ben got charged with stalking. CAA signed him anyway.
CAA signed Reckless Ben Schneider on July 10, three days after his gag order lifted and while four criminal charges and a $1.3M federal defamation lawsuit are still pending. Hollywood just paid for the lawsuit.
Alix Earle wore lace to Wimbledon and TikTok called it classless. She called it Bridgerton.
TikTok's biggest style influencer wore ivory lace to Wimbledon on July 7 and her own audience called it 'classless.' Two days later, she flipped the news cycle with one caption and handed the creator economy its clapback template.
Andrew Callaghan's fans just fronted him $1 million in six hours.
Channel 5 asked its audience for $800,000 to defend a second lawsuit and cleared $1 million in six hours from 28,000+ donors. A mid-size YouTuber just replaced a media company's legal insurance with a viral link.
Disney+ and Hulu are dropping a 36-creator variety show on Monday. Legacy TV just caved.
Disney+ and Hulu are co-premiering Rabbit Hole on July 13, packing 36 digital creators and 675 million combined followers into one show. Legacy TV isn't rebuilding creators anymore, it's just paying for the reach.
X just threw $1 million at livestreamers to peel them off Twitch
X just committed $1 million to livestreamers with a new Live Studio hub, gated behind $3-a-month X Premium. It's Nikita Bier's opening move against Twitch, and it is not remotely close to Kick money.