Jubilee Media
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founder | Jason Y. Lee |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Website | jubileemedia |
Jubilee Media is a Los Angeles–based media company. It runs the Jubilee YouTube channel, which has 9.4 million subscribers as of November 2024.
History
[edit]Jubilee was created by entrepreneur Jason Y. Lee. Lee first founded Jubilee as a non-profit company back in 2010, and then transitioned it to a profit company in 2017 after raising over $650,000.[1] In September 2022, Jubilee announced they had raised over $1 million, and had launched a new channel called Nectar, centered around romantic relationships.[2]
Jubilee's YouTube content shifted towards politics after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Lee, "disappointed" by the division in the U.S., sought to create content encouraging politcal discussions acoss spectrums. According to Lee, the company is politically neutral and hires a producers and editors with a variety of different viewpoints.[3]
Content
[edit]According to founder Jason Y. Lee, the purpose of Jubilee's content is to “provoke understanding and create human connection” across political spectrums.[3] Several prominent figures, including Pete Buttigieg, Ben Shapiro, Destiny, Charlie Kirk, and Dean Withers, have appeared in Jubilee's "Surrounded" series. Statements made in the series are fact-checked by Straight Arrow News.[3][4]
Jubilee has several series, including:
- Ask Me Anything, where people ask a person relevant to a certain societal topic questions.
- Eating With the Enemy, where two people from opposing backgrounds dine together while discussing political issues.
- Middle Ground, where two opposing sides have a debate and attempt to find common ground.
- Odd One Out, where a secret mole is in a group, and has to be spotted by others through questions.
- Seeking Secrets, where people read strangers secrets on a certain topic.
- Spectrum, where people belonging to an identity measure their beliefs by moving to the left or right.
- Ranking, where people rank each other on a certain societal topic.
- Versus 1, where someone speed dates many people in hopes of finding a match.
- Tea for Two, where people see if they can fall in love with someone in a certain amount of questions.
- The Verdict, where people get a past criminal case and have to agree on a criminal sentence before they get revealed what the criminal actually got sentenced.
- Circle of Secrets, where a group of people with similarities can open up.
- The Dilemma, where people have to make a life changing decision for a person in a tough situation.
- Surrounded, where a prominent political figure is surrounded by and debates several opponents.
The most popular video on the channel is called "30 vs 1: Dating App in Real Life", where a man swipes left and right on possible dates in a way similar to that of the app Tinder.[5]
In media
[edit]Jubilee Media has been featured on Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, Mashable, and The Queen Latifah Show.[6] Jubilee is also featured in many reaction videos on YouTube, including PewDiePie.[7] Several Jubilee debate videos have gone viral during the 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle.[4][8][9]
Kyndall Cunningham of Vox described the "Surrounded" series as a "satire of what debate has become in the age of Trump: extremely competitive, theatrical, and unbalanced (literally and emotionally) to boot." Comparing the series to a "MrBeast-inspired game show", she noted that online political debate content such as Jubilee's has increased in popularity in the Trump era.[8]
The Michigan Daily criticized Jubilee for platforming right-wing activists, including Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk, who hold transphobic and anti-abortion views.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Liu, Jennifer (2021-05-20). "This founder quit his 6-figure job to start a business: How he went from making $0 to paying himself $97,000". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
- ^ Gutelle, Sam (28 September 2022). "Jubilee has raised $1.1 million, signed with WME, and launched a new brand about love (Exclusive)". tubefilter.com. Tubefilter.
- ^ a b c Shanfeld, Ethan (2024-11-04). "Jubilee Is Making America Debate Again: How YouTube Hit 'Surrounded' Landed Pete Buttigieg and Ben Shapiro — and Why Its CEO Wants to Get In On the 2028 Election". Variety. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ a b Mather, Katie (2024-10-29). "How a former Trump supporter became YouTube's viral 'woke teen'". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ Adeniji, Ade (2024-01-01). "How YouTube Dating Shows Are Changing the Way We Hook Up". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
- ^ "Jason Y. Lee | UCI Law". www.law.uci.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- ^ Reacting to 6 Bros vs 1 Secret PewDiePie - Jubilee React #17, retrieved 2023-11-19
- ^ a b Cunningham, Kyndall (2024-10-10). ""1 woke teen vs. 20 Trump supporters": The new age of viral political videos". Vox. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ Theil, Michele (2024-10-25). "Right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro 'eviscerated' by trans man on viral debate show". PinkNews. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
- ^ Johns, Campbell (2024-12-05). "How Jubilee's political debates operate as alt-right content". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2024-12-10.