Clayton Morris (born December 31, 1976) is an American

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 ...

, real estate investor, and former television news anchor. He co-hosts ''Redacted News'' on the video platform Rumble and on his eponymous YouTube channel and a podcast on ''Investing in Real Estate''. After co-hosting '' The Daily Buzz'' and ''Good Day Philadelphia'' on Fox's WTXF-TV, he was a co-host of '' Fox & Friends Weekend'' on

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

from 2008 to 2017. He covered consumer technology for Fox and hosted weekly technology segments for Fox News Radio and Fox News. On September 4, 2017, he left Fox News. His real estate ventures have been the subject of several lawsuits, including one filed by the state of Indiana.

Early life

Morris was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and attended Wilson High School in Spring Township in Berks County (today West Lawn, Pennsylvania), during which time he briefly hosted a comedy show on the local Berks Community Television public access channel. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1999.

Career

Television, film, and radio

In 2000, Morris appeared in a low-budget thriller film entitled ''Deception''. His television career began when he was a producer for '' Good Day LA'' at KTTV, the Fox-owned television station in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Morris then went on to reporting and anchoring positions at WVVA in Bluefield, West Virginia, and later with the Montana Television Network as a political reporter in the state capital, Helena. He went on to work for '' The Daily Buzz'', a syndicated television morning show, as news correspondent and later host. In January 2007, Morris was hired by WTXF-TV, the Fox TV station in Philadelphia, to host its morning show, ''Good Day Philadelphia''. He announced in October 2007 that he would leave the station at year's end. Morris then co-hosted ''Fox & Friends Weekend'' for Fox News Channel from 2008 to 2017. In 2012, Morris won the seventh annual "New York's Funniest Reporter" contest, which benefits the Humane Society of New York.

Financial journalism and real estate ventures

Morris hosts the ''Investing in Real Estate'' podcast and Morris Invest YouTube channel, and he developed the Financial Freedom Academy, an online financial planning service. Morris and his wife Natali Morris co-authored a book, ''How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in 5 Years''. They also co-host a daily YouTube show on their ''Redacted'' channel. In March 2019, investors filed more than two dozen lawsuits in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, claiming that Morris was running a

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...

involving the sales of some houses in C- and D-class neighborhoods that were marketed through his investment company, Morris Invest, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. The investors claimed they were sold rental properties which Morris Invest promised to rehabilitate and rent out, earning them rental income. These properties belonged to Bert Whalen. Some investors claimed that they later discovered the properties they received rental income from for several months were boarded up and vacant, and they began receiving city code and country health department violations. Others found they had purchased vacant lots, small shacks or buildings that were falling down. Morris denied responsibility, asserting he referred investors to Whalen and that Whalen was responsible for managing the properties, even though many investors believed they were dealing directly with Morris. In November 2019, Whalen was indicted by a federal grand jury for defrauding investors; the indictment did not name Morris. Whalen pleaded guilty in March 2022. Morris sued HoltonWiseTV in federal court in October 2019 for $7.2 million, alleging copyright infringement; the case stemmed from HoltonWiseTV's production of a three-hour documentary investigating the alleged involvement of Morris in various real estate scams. In March 2020, Morris lost the suit. In May 2020, the state of Indiana filed a civil lawsuit against Clayton Morris, among others, for violating Indiana's deceptive sales and home loan acts in real estate deals involving more than 150 properties in Marion County.

Personal life

He and his wife, Natali, have three children and lived in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

, until 2019. They initially planned to move to Pennsylvania in early 2019 but moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

later that year, with Natali Morris citing the "collective soul challenge" in their business as a reason to leave the country. The family at the time had moved to the country on temporary visas to allow their children to attend schools overseas. The move to Portugal drew criticism from investors suing Morris at the time, who worried that his relocation could make it harder for them to retrieve damages if courts found in their favor.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Clayton Living people 1976 births American expatriates in Portugal American male journalists American television hosts American television journalists Fox News people People from Berks County, Pennsylvania People from Maplewood, New Jersey Technology commentators University of Pittsburgh alumni YouTubers from New Jersey