Ben Phillips (born ) is a Welsh

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

. He began uploading videos on

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

in 2013, gaining an online following with a series of clips featuring his son Harley. After leaving the platform in 2015, he has uploaded videos on Facebook and YouTube, primarily about

prank A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...

s involving his friend/step-brother Elliot Giles. Phillips went on a theatrical tour in 2016 and was given a prank-show pilot on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

in 2017. He also uploads videos to

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

Early and personal life

Before becoming a Viner, Phillips worked in his mother's shoe shop in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, Wales. He has a son called Harley.

Career

Phillips set up his

account in August 2013 and initially uploaded videos of his three-year-old son Harley. He began a "Dr Harley" series in which his son gave out spoof medical advice. In February 2014, they were one of the top 5 viners in the United Kingdom with half a million followers. They were signed by social media agency GrapeStory which was co-founded by

Jérôme Jarre Jérôme Jarre (pronounced ) is a French entrepreneur, creator and humanitarian. He is best known for being a Vine and Snapchat celebrity. As of June 2014, he was the fourth most followed individual on Vine. That same month he became one of the f ...

. After he and his son's mother broke up, he began to make vines on his own and also upload videos to

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. The last vine he did with his son was a

Ford Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

advert which he was paid £12,000 to make. Phillips' team consisted of his friends and family who would give him ideas which he called "the

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea; 27 February 1973) is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and media personality. Born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia, Andre achieved success in the mid-1990s as a singer, topping ...

model". In March 2015, a couple of days after being interviewed by

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for young people.

and

BuzzFeed News ''BuzzFeed News'' was an American news website published by BuzzFeed beginning in 2011. It ceased posting new hard news content in May 2023. It published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was strong ...

, he claimed his Vine account was hacked. Phillips moved to YouTube making videos primarily about pranking his friend Elliot Giles such as replacing his hair gel with superglue, putting

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

in his sports drink and placing him in a lake whilst he was sleeping on an inflatable mattress. He said of Vine's closure in 2017 that "Vine just didn't keep with the creator and the influencer" and that "they lost sight of what Vine actually was. YouTube and Facebook have so much more to offer the creator now." In 2016, he went on a theatrical tour in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and produced a movie featuring footage of the tour that was shown in cinemas in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. When asked about his following in Asia, he said that his philosophy was making his videos "universal so you didn't have to understand the language to get the videos". His slogan "sorry bro!" was the title of his book published in 2016. In 2017, he was given a prank show

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

titled ''Ben Phillips Blows Up''. In 2019, a video by Phillips in which Giles is blindfolded on a railway line as part of a ''Bird Box'' challenge was investigated by police. The

British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...

said that Giles was "quite literally playing a game of life and death". In February 2021, YouTuber

Jake Paul Jake Joseph Paul (born January 17, 1997) is an American Professional boxing, professional boxer, influencer and actor. He began his career posting videos on Vine (service), Vine in September 2013 and had amassed 5.3 million followers and 2 bi ...

told ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' that he had discussed creating a

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

with Phillips. In February 2022, Phillips and Paul were named in a class-action lawsuit against SafeMoon, a cryptocurrency they had promoted, which claimed they were involved in a "

pump and dump Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements (pump), in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price (dump). O ...

" scheme.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Ben 1990s births 21st-century Welsh comedians 21st-century Welsh male writers British Vine (service) celebrities Living people People associated with cryptocurrency People from Bridgend Prank YouTubers Welsh male comedians Welsh TikTokers Welsh YouTubers YouTube channels launched in 2014