The Creator A-List: The 50 Hottest Influencers on the Planet

• Alex Consani

  @alexconsani
  
  6.1 million followers on TikTok

  It’s a tall task to summarize in 100 words or less why the supermodel, who stands at 6 feet, continues to captivate on every platform (and runway) she touches. Sure, it’s the looks (she’s been booked by Chanel, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Tom Ford and more), the comedy and the activism (standing up for the trans community), but it’s also the unpredictability of what she’ll say off-duty that has made her a TikTok must-follow to the tune of 6.1 million. In December, she made history by being crowned model of the year at London’s Fashion Awards, becoming the first transgender model to earn the trophy.

• Alix Earle

  @alixearle
  
  7.5 million followers on TikTok

  After going viral in 2023 with glamorously chaotic TikToks, Earle, 24, parlayed her fame into Hot Mess, a podcast launched under Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network — though that partnership flamed out this year amid reported friction between the two influencers. She’s now taking her “hot mess” brand mainstream as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars season 34, twirling alongside pro Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

  THE SOCIAL PLATFORM I COULD NEVER LIVE WITHOUT AND THE ONE I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE UP I can’t live without TikTok, and I would get rid of Facebook.

  THE THING THAT SURPRISES ME MOST ABOUT BEING A CREATOR “Becoming an investor in multiple brands at only 24 years old. That’s never something I thought I would be capable of at this age.”

• Amelia Dimoldenberg

  

  @ameliadimoldenberg
  
  3.3 million subscribers on YouTube

  For the 10th anniversary of Chicken Shop Date, the quick-witted Brit dropped a greatest-hits reel of her chicken-fueled flirt sessions with Cher, Billie Eilish, Paul Mescal, Bella Hadid and other stars who came for the nuggets but stayed for the banter. Her cult-y YouTube show launched her onto the Oscars red carpet (as the Academy’s official social ambassador) and into brand deals and Time‘s 100 Creators list. Next up: Passenger Princess, a Formula 1-backed series where she learns to drive — on camera, of course.

• Boman Martinez-Reid

  

  @bomanizer
  
  2.2 million followers on TikTok

  The Canadian creator (also known as Bomanizer) became a pandemic breakout star by spoofing reality TV drama with hilariously over-the-top TikToks inspired by The Real Housewives and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. He’s since made the leap to traditional TV with Made for TV, a 2024 mock­umentary on Canadian network Crave that continues his pop-culture sendup streak.

  THE PLATFORM I COULD NEVER LIVE WITHOUT “It’s kind of random, but Snapchat. I have maintained streaks with my friends, many of which exceed 1,000 days. I feel like my snap streaks keep me and my friends in each other’s faces. If we didn’t have a snap streak, would we still be friends? It’s hard to say.”

• Brittany Broski

  

  @brittany_broski
  
  2.6 million subscribers on YouTube

  She first shot to fame in 2019 when a TikTok of her trying kombucha for the first time — and cycling through a series of meme-ready facial expressions — went viral, earning her the nickname “Kombucha Girl.” Since then, she has parlayed that internet fame into a full-fledged media career. Her medieval-themed interview series Royal Court has become a breakout press-tour staple, with celebs like Charli XCX, Saoirse Ronan and David Corenswet donning cloaks and swords to nerd out. (Corenswet’s turn went viral for sheer enthusiasm.) She also is signed to Atlantic Records, with two singles out and more music planned for 2026.

• Brooke Averick & Connor Wood

  

  Their podcast may be called Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast, but what they’ve really made is a Gen Z cult hit. Averick and Wood bounce between pop-culture breakdowns, deadpan tangents and existential spirals — often within the same five minutes — and their clipped, chaotic rapport has struck a chord with chronically online 20-somethings. Averick also has made waves on BookTok and has a debut novel (Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It) coming in 2026. Wood’s solo TikToks are equal parts sincere and absurd, sometimes in the same sentence. 

  THE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR

  AVERICK “My screen time being less than 11 hours a day.”

  CONNOR “I kind of miss my 9-to-5s! I was ultimately fired from every one of them as they weren’t a part of my journey.”

• Caleb Hearon

  

  @calebsaysthings
  
  1.1 million followers on TikTok

  Hearon took a reverse-engineered route to influencer status: stand-up first, social media second. After two unsuccessful Saturday Night Live auditions, Hearon pivoted to posting POV videos on Twitter and stand-up clips on TikTok — and blew up. Since then, he has parlayed that following into a full-on comedy career: the So True With Caleb Hearon podcast, a stand-up tour, an HBO special and roles in Jurassic World: Dominion, Sweethearts and the upcoming Devil Wears Prada sequel.

• Delaney Rowe

  

  @delaneyrowe
  
  1.1 million followers on Instagram

  Rowe has been making a name for herself online for years, with her spot-on parodies of cinematic tropes like “The scrappy female reporter in every movie who’s desperate to get the real story,” and, “The devastating last home video taken of the wife who dies in the beginning of the movie.” Lately, though, she’s been showing up offline, too, splitting time between Los Angeles and New York and turning up at industry events and creator collabs — building visibility beyond her feed.

• Drew Afualo

  

  @drewafualo
  
  8.2 million followers on TikTok

  Afualo doesn’t post — she detonates. With a mix of razor-sharp humor and righteous outrage, she’s turned calling out misogyny into a viral art form. Proudly Samoan, she has launched her hit podcast The Comment Section, written The New York Times best-seller LOUD: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve and built a Hollywood presence as a red carpet correspondent at major awards shows.

  THE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Shopping around Trader Joe’s without being perceived. Man, oh man, what I would give to loiter in those too-small aisles.”

• Drew Desbordes

  @druski
  
  235,000 followers on Twitch

  Druski has built a comedy empire from chaos — recording sketches in airports, at NASCAR events, even in the back of a McDonald’s. His YouTube series Coulda Been Records, Coulda Been House and Coulda Been Love blend sketch comedy with livestream culture, often featuring drop-ins from the likes of Kevin Hart, Kai Cenat and other A-listers. “I fucking love this shit,” he says. “Why the fuck would I want to go back and be broke?”

  THE PERSON WHOSE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT I’D LOVE TO RUN FOR A DAY “Leonardo DiCaprio. I want to know who’s running his Instagram because it can’t be him! There’s no chance! He’s posting like dogs, cats, birds and trees.”

• Dylan Efron

  

  
  
  @dylanefron
  
  1.4 million followers on Instagram

  After starting his career as a production coordinator, Efron has parallel-pathed his way to stardom by supplementing his growing reality show appearances (he was a breakout star of The Traitors‘ third season) with his endearing and savvy social media presence. “I grew up pretty private and didn’t even have social media until after I graduated college,” he says. “Instagram was the first platform I used, and it made me more comfortable at storytelling and being myself on camera — which led to opportunities like The Traitors and Dancing With the Stars.”

  He since has expanded to TikTok, posting wacky looks into his life — he’s often out on a wilderness adventure, and occasionally shirtless while doing so — for millions of viewers. When he taps his A-lister older brother Zac to appear alongside him, the views skyrocket into the tens of millions. Efron says the biggest surprise of creator life is that it’s actually fun to be vulnerable: “I think there’s a fear that we always want to show success stories, but the best videos are ones that tell the journey of becoming your best.”

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE FILMED CONTENT “Guyana. I shot a documentary on YouTube where my friend and I traveled to a remote village in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest to attempt to catch one of the largest fish in the world and tell a beautiful story of sustainability.”

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “Rock climbing. It always feels strange picking up my phone and filming or scrolling while on the side of a huge mountain.”

• Emma Chamberlain

  @emmachamberlain
  
  12 million subscribers on YouTube

  Chamberlain turned awkward jump cuts and oversharing into an aesthetic — and then into an empire. What began as a YouTube diary of caffeine jitters and self-deprecating chaos helped define Gen Z’s online voice and made her one of fashion’s most unexpected power players. Today, she runs Chamberlain Coffee, hosts the Anything Goes podcast and regularly partners with Vogue as a Met Gala correspondent while repping Louis Vuitton and Cartier on the global stage.

  THE THING THAT SURPRISED ME MOST ABOUT BEING A CREATOR “How lonely it can be — I find I experience more nefarious intentions since I began this career.”

• Gabby Windey

  

  @gabby.windey
  
  1.5 million followers on Instagram

  Windey first went viral when she and Rachel Recchia were dumped in tandem on The Bachelor season 26 — and then co-led The Bachelorette season 19. She reentered the zeitgeist during season three of The Traitors, but it’s her Jennifer Coolidge-esque podcast rants on Long Winded that cemented her status as a full-fledged social media sensation.

  THE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Nothing! My life was meaningless before committing to a life of being chronically online.”

• Hannah Berner

  

  @hannah_berner
  
  2.9 million followers on TikTok

  After a rocky few seasons on Bravo’s Summer House, Berner turned lemons into lemonade, shaking off her reality TV villain title as she and fellow SH alum Paige DeSorbo formed their hit Giggly Squad podcast — leading to a tour, book and the web series Hannah & Paige Try New Things. The 34-year-old also uses her platform — with 1.7 million Instagram followers in addition to her TikTok — to support her blossoming comedy career, posting clips from her nationwide stand-up tour that followed the success of her 2024 Netflix special, We Ride at Dawn.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE FILMED CONTENT IS “On the toilet.”

• Hasan Piker

  @hasanabi
  
  3 million followers on Twitch

  He wears a lot of hats: streamer, influencer, left-wing political commentator, TikToker, creator, host, Rutgers graduate and dedicated fitness fanatic, to name a few. On Instagram, where he counts 1.5 million followers, he calls himself simply “Turkish” and “politics guy” and goes live on Twitch nearly daily to dissect politics, culture and current events for his massive audience. Fans — who were eagerly anticipating his planned debate with the late Charlie Kirk — have even suggested he run for office. But as he recently told Wired: “You can’t podcast your way out of this problem.”

  THE PERSON WHOSE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT I’D LOVE TO RUN FOR THE DAY “Donald Trump. I feel like I could embody his voice perfectly and solve a lot of the problems he caused.”

• Jack Henry Robbins

  @jackhenryrobbins
  
  118,000 followers on Instagram

  Robbins — son of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins — turned “nepo baby” discourse into satirical gold. He created an alter ego based on his own experience and recruited his famous parents, their friends and their friends’ kids for scripted videos about Hollywood privilege. That blend of irony and access caught fire: He’s now developing a comedy series for Hulu, with PEN15‘s Sam Zvibleman (a non-nepo baby) on board to exec produce.

  WHAT SURPRISES ME MOST ABOUT BEING A CREATOR “My nightmare where my parents eat me at the Oscars has only become more frequent since going viral.”

• Jack Schlossberg

  @jack.schlossberg
  
  884,000 followers on TikTok

  The 32-year-old Harvard Law grad — and, by the way, JFK’s only grandson — uses TikTok to champion voting rights and take bold swings at political targets, including recent jabs at Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story, about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Schlossberg slammed the upcoming series as “grotesque,” saying his family was never consulted. He also has moonlighted as Vogue‘s political correspondent during the 2024 election.

  THE PERSON WHOSE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT I’D LOVE TO RUN FOR A DAY “The pope!! I’d make my mother a saint, then I’d tweet at J.D. Vance.”

• Jake Shane

  

  @octopusslover8
  
  3.8 million followers on TikTok

  A social media favorite for his absurdist humor and pop-culture riffs, Shane, 26, has turned offbeat relatability into a fast-rising career. Since appearing on this list last year, his momentum hasn’t slowed. In March, he told THR he hopes to land more onscreen roles — and he’s already started, with a guest spot in season four of HBO’s Hacks. The New York native wrapped his 36-date Live With Jake Shane comedy tour in July and continues to grow his audience through the comedy podcast Therapuss With Jake Shane, where guests have included Glen Powell and Kaia Gerber.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “During therapy, sorry.”

• Kareem Rahma

  

  @kareem
  
  1.1 million followers on TikTok

  In a time when A-list talent is hesitant to offer any opinion (on anything), Rahma has earned a following by getting the likes of Ethan Hawke, Michael Shannon and Cate Blanchett to share their — albeit usually low-stakes — hot takes from the seat of an active New York City subway car (meaning they always have an audience of random straphangers). With a low concept and even lower production value, Subway Takes debuted only in 2023 and now has 2 million follows on Instagram and 1 million on TikTok and is catching up with other digital-native press stops like Hot Ones and podcasts like Call Her Daddy as places for famous people to hawk their onscreen wares.

  And while Rahma’s biggest interviewees have gone from fellow NYC comedians to Oscar hopefuls and would-be box office stars, he continues to showcase his comedy chops in back-and-forths with average subway riders. His reach now extends far beyond entertainment. A July video with Zohran Mamdani covered the New York City mayoral candidate’s stance on the city’s policing, taxes and homelessness policies, while Rahma took the late Jane Goodall on a subway ride and spent the time talking about environmentalism and the importance of public transit.

  BEFORE I BECAME A FULL-TIME CREATOR, I WAS … “A failed entrepreneur.”

  THE BIGGEST PERK OF CREATOR LIFE “Having my work be seen by millions of people.”

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE FILMED CONTENT “Inside the Washington Square Park fountain — naked.”

• Kai Cenat

  @kaicenat
  
  18 million followers on Twitch

  Twitch’s most watched creator has turned his channel into a cultural circus, pulling in millions with celebrity skits, all-night gaming sessions and viral marathons like Mafiathon 3, where LeBron James famously gave him a haircut live on camera. In May, he launched Streamer University to mentor up-and-coming creators, and now Hollywood’s calling: Cenat will star in the comedy thriller Livestream From Hell, alongside Kevin Hart and Druski. During a recent Hot Ones interview, Cenat advised future streamers: “What’s not teachable is being yourself.”

• Keith Lee

  @keith_lee125
  
  17 million followers on TikTok

  Going from MMA fighter to food critic isn’t what you might call a common career path — but that’s what makes Lee’s story so compelling. He’s turned the discipline he learned in the cage into a mission to uplift the underdog, reviewing mom-and-pop restaurants whose takeout he films from his car and sends viral overnight. With millions of followers across TikTok and Instagram, Lee’s no-frills, to-camera reviews have made him one of social media’s most trusted — and most unlikely — food critics.

• Kinigra Deon

  @kinigra
  
  2.2 million followers on Facebook

  Deon calls it “cinematic storytelling” — producing full-blown, multicharacter, 20-minute comedy episodes for YouTube and Facebook using a crew trained in traditional TV. Think Tyler Perry for the digital age — a comparison she embraces. With expansion plans that include her own production studio, she’s building a media empire without leaving the platforms that launched her.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “Not craziest, but most inappropriate? During a heated argument with my husband … about social media. I literally paused the argument, checked my video numbers, then unpaused the argument and picked up where I left off. He was OVER it. I don’t do that anymore, I promise.”

• Mark Phillips

  

  @RDCworld1
  
  7.5 million subscribers on YouTube

  Phillips, co-founder of the sketch collective RDCWorld (Real Dreams Change the World), has built a following with wildly popular parody videos — but his social media habits are more relatable than aspirational. He once checked updates while attending a Lakers playoff game. His personal IG now has 3 million followers, but it’s his knack for nailing hyperspecific fan obsessions — from anime logic to NBA locker-room drama — that keeps fans coming back.

• Marques Brownlee

  @MKBHD
  
  20 million subscribers on YouTube

  Known as MKBHD, Brownlee, 31, started posting tech videos in high school — and now ranks among Time‘s 100 most influential people in AI. The Shorty Awards named him creator of the decade, and Trevor Noah recently called him “arguably the most influential person in the world of tech.” His channel has become a go-to for honest product reviews in an ever-evolving space.

  THE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Watching a video without thinking about how it was made.”

• Michael Blaustein

  @blaucomedy
  
  2.5 million followers on Facebook

  A sort of millennial Dane Cook, Blaustein is the current breakout comedian of Facebook, picking up more than 1 million followers just this past year. He’s known mostly for crowd work, with a penchant for asking audience members questions that deliver edgy, occasionally over-the-top conversations. His recent viral videos show his fans divulging everything from marrying their dad’s friend to running a brothel.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE EVER FILMED CONTENT “At a Russian mobster’s 60th birthday party. They hired me to do a 45-minute stand-up set, which was perfect because we all know how much Russian criminals love to giggle. I made fun of the birthday boy, and he immediately threw a vodka bottle at my head.”

• Michelle Khare

  @michellekhare
  
  5.3 million subscribers on YouTube

  In Challenge Accepted, she tackles feats that are equal parts physical and psychological — training for a week at the Secret Service Academy for one episode, re-creating Houdini’s magic tricks in another. Possibly her biggest recent feat, though, was persuading the Television Academy to submit her YouTube series for the Emmy race. Next up? Re-creating Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible airplane stunt — no parachute, of course.

• Ms. Rachel & Aron Accurso

  @msrachel
  
  17 million subscribers on YouTube

  Ms. Rachel (and husband Aron Accurso, a Broadway music director) turned toddler tantrums and speech delays into viral gold with Songs for Littles, their gentle, lo-fi YouTube series packed with sing-alongs, sign language and development-friendly repetition. With parents and therapists singing her praises, Netflix snapped up a batch of episodes this year — and Ms. Rachel quietly became one of its most watched shows. Forget cartoons or Cocomelon: Ms. Rachel is the algorithm’s answer to Sesame Street.

• Nara Smith

  @naraazizasmith
  
  12 million followers on TikTok

  Smith’s glam-meets-homestead lifestyle has captivated TikTok — from slow-pour baking videos to luxury domesticity with husband Lucky Blue Smith and their three (soon to be four) children. With nearly 5 million followers on Instagram, she has built a tradwife empire, complete with dreamy voiceovers, from-scratch meals and artfully curated family life.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “Believe it or not, I don’t spend that much time scrolling on social media, so usually I go on it at the end of the day in bed.”

• Nick DiGiovanni

  @nickdigiovanni
  
  29 million subscribers on YouTube

  After becoming the youngest-ever finalist on MasterChef — at the ripe old age of 21 — DiGiovanni pivoted to food-fluencing, posting cooking videos on Instagram. But unlike most of the internet-famous folks of that era, his popularity just continues to grow. These days, he posts food content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to more than 50 million combined followers and collaborates with the likes of Selena Gomez, Paris Hilton and Tom Brady. He’s also got a cookbook (Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook, an instant New York Times best-seller six times over) and a pantry products company to his name, as well as brand partnerships with Google and T-Mobile.

  THE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Having my privacy while eating at restaurants or out in public.”

• Nicky Campbell

  @nickycbell
  
  362,000 followers on Instagram

  There’s no shortage of fashion commentators sharing their opinions online — but few do it with the clarity, confidence and insider know-how of Campbell, who has done time as a menswear editor for Vogue, worked under Thom Browne and served as a director at the CFDA. He’s parlayed that extensive résumé into viral red carpet commentary and now hosts the hit chat show Gloves Off, where guests have included everyone from Rita Ora to Lea Michele. T

  HE ONE THING I MISS ABOUT MY LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Not being asked to judge everyone’s outfit when I meet them.”

• Noah Beck

  

  @noahbeck
  
  33 million followers on TikTok

  Beck became a TikTok star the old-fashioned way — by dancing shirtless. As the most polished member of Sway House (the L.A.-based content frat that ruled the app in 2020), he turned his athlete’s abs and boy-next-door charm into a full-blown brand. These days, he’s a go-to collaborator for major labels and recently starred in the sports-romance Sidelined: The QB and Me, which already has a sequel on the way.

  THE THING THAT SURPRISES ME MOST ABOUT BEING A CREATOR “The amount of PR boxes … so much cardboard.”

• Paige DeSorbo

  

  @paige_desorbo
  
  1.7 million followers on Instagram

  The Summer House breakout known for her dry wit and loungewear obsession left reality TV behind this year — but she’s still very much in the spotlight. She co-hosts the hit podcast Giggly Squad with Hannah Berner and recently launched a sleepwear brand, Daphne, which immediately sold out. Now she’s channeling her fashion instincts and comedic voice into content that blends trend forecasting with off-the-cuff humor — delivering the kind of high-low fashion commentary that could only come from someone equally obsessed with The Row and reality TV.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “A hospital room after I froze my eggs.”

• Quenlin Blackwell

  @quenblackwell
  
  12.5 million followers on TikTok

  From her early days on Vine as a teenage comedian to becoming one of Gen Z’s boldest multi-hyphenates, Blackwell builds content at the intersection of humor, aesthetics and chaos. Her Feeding Starving Celebrities series and its spinoffs blend cooking, celebrity guests and comedic banter — it’s one of her standouts but by no means her only lane. She also publishes fashion and lifestyle content, shows up at runway shows and was tapped by PAPER magazine to document Burberry’s Fall 2025 showcase. In addition to content, she’s booked modeling gigs and a brand partnership with Off-White.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE FILMED CONTENT “That would probably be in the hospital when I had a mystery illness. I made a video of me crying and singing, and it went viral.”

• Reece Feldman

  

  @guywithamoviecamera
  
  2.7 million followers

  Feldman, 27, is Hollywood’s go-to TikTok whisperer — hired by nearly every studio and streamer to create viral behind-the-scenes content. This year, he racked up millions of views filming with the casts of The Summer I Turned Pretty and Superman and walked multiple red carpets, including as a correspondent at the Oscars. He recently stepped behind the camera, directing his first short film, Wait, Your Car?, starring Whitney Peak and Ruby Cruz.

  THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT I’D LOVE TO RUN FOR THE DAY “Universal Studios. I would post an announcement that they have signed me to a five-picture deal and that I am now in charge of their horror department.”

• Rhett & Link

  @mythical
  
  51.47 million followers across all platforms

  With Good Mythical Morning, Rhett & Link have built one of YouTube’s most enduring empires — 19.4 million subscribers, 4,200-plus episodes and counting. Their studio, Mythical, runs multiple channels with nearly 40 million combined subs and more than 100 employees. They’ve toured, dropped three best-sellers and run a thriving merch business. Plus, there’s that hair!

  THE ONE THING WE MISS ABOUT LIFE BEFORE WE WERE CREATORS “There not being a digital record of every bad haircut or outfit we’ve ever had.”

• Riley Gaines

  @rileygbarker
  
  1 million followers on Instagram

  Once an All-American swimmer at the University of Kentucky, Gaines became a prominent figure in conservative circles after tying in a meet with trans athlete Lia Thomas. Since then, she has testified before Congress, advised on a Trump administration executive order targeting trans athletes and addressed the 2024 Republican National Convention. A regular on the Turning Point USA speaking circuit, Gaines has become a Gen Z face of a cultural wedge issue — and one of the movement’s most high-profile provocateurs. Gaines is also the host of OutKick’s Gaines for Girls. 

• Sabrina Brier

  @sabrina.cinoman.brier
  
  866,000 followers on TikTok

  Known for painfully accurate send-ups of zillennial behavior, Brier’s sketch characters have gone from viral bits to full-blown IP. She turned her online persona into a multi-voice audiobook (That Friend) for Simon & Schuster and is developing a scripted version with AwesomenessTV. Brier has openly called Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson her blueprint — and she’s quickly following the same playbook.

  THE THING I MISS MOST ABOUT LIFE BEFORE I WAS A CREATOR “Not hearing my own voice so much that it now haunts me in my sleep.”

• Sean Evans

  

  @firstwefeast
  
  15 million subscribers on YouTube

  With Hot Ones, Evans turned a simple gimmick — interview celebrities while they eat increasingly spicy wings — into a viral juggernaut and a must-stop on many promo tours. Recent guests have included everyone from Bad Bunny to Macaulay Culkin. The spinoff series Hot Ones Versus adds a competitive twist, with guests facing off in games and trivia challenges (and risking a final dab of hot sauce). As traditional press interviews lose their bite, Evans keeps turning up the heat — literally.

  THE BIGGEST PERK OF CREATOR LIFE “Customer service interactions tend to go a lot better when the person you’re dealing with watches your show.”

• Taylor Paul

  

  @TaylorFrankiePaul
  
  5.7 million followers on TikTok

  Paul’s venture into social media began during the pandemic, when she assembled a group of Utah-based momfluencers to shoot content, calling it #MomTok. But the thing that made her start to truly go viral was her infamous 2022 TikTok Live, where she exposed the “soft swinging” scandal (which is just what it sounds like) between her and the other married members of the Mormon creator group. The story went so wide, it prompted Hulu to create a reality show revolving around Paul and her confidantes. “We honestly just started [TikTok] for fun,” she recalls. “Never did I think it would lead to this.” 

  The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was an instant hit, debuting in September 2024. Season one chronicled Paul’s life as a newly divorced mother, her controversial domestic violence arrest and her subsequent third pregnancy. While the show spotlights eight women, Paul serves as the narrative core, proving she’s a star on any platform — whether it be on the small screen, earning an Emmy nomination, or online, where she boasts 7.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.

  She’s known for her satirical wait-is-she-being-for-real content style. “When I post or do something, I want some type of reaction. I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody,” she explains.

  But ABC naming Paul season 22’s Bachelorette was not a gotcha moment. It was a headline-driver, as she hails as the first lead from outside the franchise. On her season, The Bachelorette will trade its fairy-tale roots for an unapologetically honest mega-creator, reality star and mother of three. 

  “There’s this stigma that the Bachelorette should be a little more classier, more maybe than I am. I’m like, ‘Do I need to say things in a different approach?’ But then, I’m like, no. Because why would I do that?” Paul says. “Maybe that is why I was chosen — to be who I am. Maybe that does shake things up, and maybe that’s what’s needed, is a little bit of change. Because that’s what I am going to do.” 

• Trisha Paytas

  

  @blndsundoll4mj
  
  5.2 million subscribers on YouTube

  One of the internet’s most enduring (and polarizing) creators, Paytas went from Tarantino stan to mukbang star to Broadway debutante. Her podcast, Just Trish, covers pop culture and personal chaos; in February, she starred in Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream — a one-night-only show. She’s also a mom of three, with viral baby names to match: Malibu Barbie, Elvis and Aquaman.

  THE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT I’D LOVE TO RUN @waltongogginsbonafide

• Trixie Mattel & Katya

  

  @trixiemattel & @katya_zamo
  
  4 million and 3 million followers on Instagram

  Since meeting on RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven, Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova (say that five times fast) have parlayed their onscreen chemistry into a sprawling comedy brand. Their cult YouTube series UNHhhh now fuels a larger media machine that includes the podcast The Bald and the Beautiful, Netflix’s I Like to Watch, a best-selling advice book and a Trixie Cosmetics collab. Both also have found solo success — Trixie as a business mogul and musician, Katya as a published author and stage performer — but together, they remain queer internet icons.

• Veronika Slowikowska

  

  @veronika_iscool
  
  713,000 followers on TikTok

  Slowikowska, 29, turned her awkward roommate-crush sketches into a viral brand — and now into a full-blown comedy career. The Canadian comic recently joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player and also co-hosts the Nevermind podcast with her frequent collaborator (and sketch subject) Kyle Chase. She also has appeared in Poker Face, Tires and What We Do in the Shadows.

  THE CRAZIEST PLACE I’VE LOOKED AT SOCIAL MEDIA “Dropping in the Tower of Terror at Disney World. Specifically dropping.”

• Xaviaer DuRousseau

  @xaviaer
  
  565,000 followers on Instagram

  A Black gay Gen Z influencer — not exactly the typical face of the far right — DuRousseau has become one of its loudest voices. A regular on PragerU and Fox News and a rising star on the Turning Point USA speaker circuit, he has leaned into his unlikely profile to build a provocative online brand. Now a member of the Republican National Committee’s youth advisory council, he’s made a name sparring with liberals, clapping back at critics and even feuding with the BeyHive.

  ON BEYONCÉ’S ACTIVISM: “Beyoncé needs to focus on keeping her album on the charts because it’s already gone,” he recently told Fox News.

  This story appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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