Lawsuit over Jake Paul prank dropped, but others still looming

Olivia Richman Published 04/10/2019

A lawsuit looming over Jake Paul for an obnoxious prank gone wrong has been reportedly dropped.

The YouTube star faced a lawsuit in 2017 when plaintiff Ellis Barbacoff sued Paul and his Team 10 squad for “sustained shock and injuries” from a prank where Paul and his crew drove around honking a train horn at pedestrians they passed in their car.

While driving around Los Angeles, Paul told his friends he wanted to “blast people’s face off” and “scare some people” with the horn. They mostly honked the horn at groups of young girls, but at one point Paul beeped the loud horn at Barbacoff as he left a store in West Hollywood. The Team 10 crew was hoping to get reactions for one of their vlogs, but instead ended up facing a lawsuit for the victim’s damaged hearing.

In 2018, Paul’s lawyers from Loeb & Loeb announced they were seperating themselves from the case when the then 21-year-old “refused to cooperate.” The bragadocious YouTuber even “refused to make payments to the firm for their legal services in connection with the case,” according to a report from The Blast, a celebrity news website.

Two years later, Barbacoff has dropped all claims against the YouTube star.

Jake Paul known to terrorize Los Angeles

Driving around and honking loudly at people is not out of the ordinary for Paul and his gang. The vlogger made national news that same year for “terrorizing” his neighbors in West Hollywood.

Inside Edition reported on his antics in 2017, noting how he’d ride loud dirtbikes through the streets or into his own pool. He also burned furniture in his backyard on more than one occasion. Residents called the situation a “living hell.”

During one interview with a local news station, Paul jumped on top of their van to announce his apathy over the whole situation.

“I feel bad for them for sure,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do, though. The Jake Paulers are the strongest army out there. Dab.”

He then ran off with his friends down the street.

The Los Angeles Police Department had been called to the house daily for weeks on end, but told Inside Edition that he hadn’t “broken any rules.”

In response to all of the backlash and drama, Paul appeared to be dropped from the Disney Channel. He had starred on a show called “Bizaardvark,” a sitcom about online video stars.

Speaking with US Weekly, Disney stated that they had “mutually agreed that Jake Paul will leave his role.”

On Paul’s end, he posted to Twitter about the departure. The YouTuber noted that he had “outgrown the channel” and felt it was time to “move forward in my career.”

Instead, Paul would be focusing more on his “personal brand,” along with his own YouTube channel and business ventures. This included growing Team 10 and finding “more adult acting roles.”

Jake Paul’s other lawsuits still up in the air

While the 2017 lawsuit was reportedly dropped, this isn’t Paul’s first time experiencing legal battles over his stunts and antics. The YouTuber was hit with a lawsuit in December last year for “destroying” a $10 million mansion he’d rented for his birthday celebration.

Paul celebrated his 21st birthday at a mansion located in Aspen, Colorado. The Team 10 crew paid $61,000 to be there for 11 days.

During that week and a half, Paul caused damages to the property by racing off-road ATVs throughout the yard and throwing kitchenware at the house’s windows. He filmed these stunts for his millions of YouTube followers, which violated the rental agreement that stated the mansion could not be used for commercial purposes. The agreement also stated that “using the home for any disorderly conduct or in a manner that created excessive or unreasonable noise or nuisance” was prohibited.

Jake Paul continues to get in trouble with the law

Just a few months later, in February 2019, Paul was sued for “false imprisonment” when a neighbor was detained by Paul’s security team within the YouTuber’s property. The neighbor, who is also accusing Paul of racism, had gone to the vlogger’s home to confront Paul about the speed in which cars were zipping out of his driveway. He called it a “safety concern.”

But once inside Paul’s property, the neighbor was verbally assaulted by one of Paul’s friends. That friend called over a security guard, who held the neighbor there against his will for “trespassing.”

According to the lawsuit, the guard grabbed the neighbor, twisting his arm behind his back, and threw him against a car to hold him still. That’s when Paul called the police, accusing the neighbor of trespassing. When police arrived, they told Paul to let the neighbor go.

The lawsuit notes that the “citizen’s arrest” was made without any reasonable cause. That led him to believe the situation was made worse because of his religion and ethnicity, making him a target for Paul and Team 10.

Paul’s lawyers are claiming that Paul wasn’t present at the time of the altercation.

These lawsuits are still ongoing.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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