The 8 Craziest Moments In The Team 10/Clout Gang Rivalry
Whose game is stronger?
There's some advice that's undeniable: A penny saved is a penny earned. One man's trash is another man's treasure. On Wednesdays, we wear pink. And if you want to be internet famous, you join forces with other internet-famous people.
There are a ton of YouTube groups out there — Sidemen, Fazeclan, the soon-to-be 368 — making videos, promoting each other, and of course, selling merch. But two of the biggest groups are known as much for hating on each other as they are for putting out fire videos. Love 'em or hate 'em, Team 10 and Clout Gang definitely know how to keep the drama going. Here are the 8 biggest moments in the Team 10/Clout Gang rivalry.
1.Team 10 forms.
Ask Jake Paul what Team 10 is, and he'll tell you it's part Silicon Valley incubator, part record label.
"We take people who have a lot of potential and teach them how to make content, produce it, etc," he told Forbes. "Then we move them into the house and we all collaborate."
Jake started Team 10 with his girlfriend, Alissa Violet, model Neels Visser, Instagrammer Alex Lange, singer AJ Mitchell, and 15-year-old twins who still dress alike Marcus and Lucas Dobre. There's never been exactly 10 members of Team 10 — don't worry too much about it. Jake and Alissa had a quirky chemistry that played well on camera, enough so that Jalissa merch was always popular.
2. Alissa moves out.
Six months later, there's trouble in paradise. Alissa came home to find all her stuff in the foyer and a new lock on the door to her room. Jake even hired a moving company to get her out of the house. The reason? Alissa cheated on him. But Alissa claimed she couldn't have cheated because Jake refused to ever commit, and was emotionally abusive to her. He'd treat her like his girlfriend one day and then bring other girls home the next.
Despite the civil Instagram pic, Alissa wasted no time burning it down. She ended her friendship with fellow Team 10er Tessa Brooks, and accused the rest of the house of stabbing her in the back.
3. The diss tracks start.
Other than the odd Twitter feud here and there, Jake and Alissa seemed to keep out of each other's business. Until Jake decided to become a rap star. His first song, It's Everyday, Bro, took multiple shots at Alissa. Like this one:
And you know I kick them out if they ain't with the crew/yeah I'm talking about you, you beggin' for attention/talking shit on Twitter too but you still hit my phone last night/it was 4:52 and I got the text to prove.
Naturally, Alissa responded with her own rap, teaming up with friend and fellow YouTuber Ricegum. It's Every Night, Sis has gems like this one:
Should've never cheated now, never cheated now/got fame from your brother now, from your brother now/he's a better kisser now, better kisser now/now I'm onto bigger things, bigger things now.
4. Alissa starts dating FaZe Banks.
I know it doesn't seem like it, but maybe Alissa and Ricegum (Bryan Le) spent a lot of time working on the lyrics for It's Every Night, Sis. Because not long after it dropped, Alissa started dating Rice's roommate, professional gamer FaZe (Ricky) Banks. They made their relationship Insta-offiicial just days before Jake Paul "married" newbie Team 10er Erika Costell. With new power couples formed, the rivalry heats up.
5. Clout Gang is official.
So hot, it seems, that FaZe, Alissa, and Rice form a new group: Clout Gang.
"For lack of a better explanation, I guess it's just our version of Team 10," FaZe told YouTube reporter Daniel Keem. "We have this house, we have all the resources in the world, we have big people backing us and investing in us. It's going to be the next big thing."
Rapper Ugly God quickly joined the gang, and the whole group promised to be more authentic and more positive than Team 10.
6. Jake claims FaZe assaulted Jake's assistant.
Within days of this, Jake uploaded a video called "My assistant was assaulted.." In it Jake appears with his assistant Meg Zelly and claims that she was out at a club and saw FaZe making out with a woman that wasn't Alissa. Soon after, Zelly said, FaZe clotheslined her and grabbed her by the throat.
FaZe posted a response video called "My girlfriend was assaulted…" He denied the whole thing, saying he didn't make out with anyone and that the most violent thing that happened was that he might have elbowed someone unintentionally while dancing. He then claims that lots of Team 10ers were at the club buying him drinks, probably to make sure he was blackout drunk and wouldn't remember what happened. Alissa chimes in, talking about how Jake would spit in her face while they were dating and once threw her into a cactus when they were in Arizona.
FaZe tweeted that Jake had texted him and they were going to handle everything "offline from here on out." Then he continued tweeting about it.
7. Jake gets in a fight with Clout Gang member Wolfieraps.
Everyone seemed to have calmed down until early May, when Jake ran into Clout Gang member Wolfieraps at a hotel. They start shouting at each other, and other Team 10 and Clout Gang members step in to keep them from throwing punches. Oddly though, people from both sides were filming on Snapchat just as the fight got started, that footage got "leaked," and Jake and Wolfie have made no less than five videos about the fight since then.
8. Everyone's just keepin' it real.
It's hard to say what will come next in this feud. Throwing shade back and forth definitely helped both groups rack up views, and therefore ads, and therefore money. But Team 10 is such a revolving door that they can't seem to sell out their latest tour — who knows who you're even paying to see anymore? And while Clout Gang claims to be about authenticity and spreading a positive message, so far that just boils down to FaZe handing out a lot of cash in his videos. It seems like the rivalry will either kill them or save them. I'll be watching to find out.
Catherine LeFebvre is a writer and editor living in LA with her goldendoodle, Grover Cleveland. Her husband and son live with them too. She’s done time with Martha Stewart (here, not here), Food Network, and Nickelodeon. You can follow her on Instagram @discolefebvre.