Onision

James Jackson (born Gregory James Daniel; November 11, 1985), known professionally by his online alias Onision ( ), is an American YouTuber. His primary YouTube channel, "Onision", featured sketches and satirical clips; videos posted to his other channels focus on personal stories covering controversial topics as well as discussion with his viewers. His activity both online and offline has attracted controversy and criticism from online media outlets and viewers alike, as well as many allegations of abuse, sexual grooming of minors and rape.

As of April 2025, Jackson's main Onision channel has less than 2 million subscribers and over 290 million video views; his secondary channel "UhOhBro" had received 1.74 million subscribers; and his vlog channel "OnisionSpeaks" had received less than 1.4 million subscribers; the latter two channels have had all their uploads removed. A music video titled "Banana Song (I'm a Banana)", written and performed by Jackson, is his most-viewed video; as of October 2024, it had garnered over 95 million views.

Early life

Jackson was born Gregory James Daniel on November 11, 1985, in Auburn, Washington. Jackson has told fans that his mother raised him and his older sisters in a rural environment and that they were Seventh-day Adventists. Additionally, in his 2014 self-published ''Facts About Onision (Story Time)'' video, Jackson states that his mother "filed for divorce once it was made clear that his father was a child predator". During his teenage years, Jackson composed music and worked on web and graphic design. Jackson served in the United States Air Force in 2005, and received a general discharge under honorable conditions in 2008.

Online career

Video content

Jackson's first videos were uploaded in 2003, involving self-made animations posted on his game review website, "gamersshadow.com". He began filming and uploading comedy sketches of himself in 2004, to his website "mrodd.com" under the alias "Mr. Odd".

Jackson created his first YouTube channel on January 29, 2006 and started uploading content that same year. However, the earliest publicly available video on his channel is "I'm So Emo (Song)", uploaded on April 28, 2008. His earliest clips featured a character named Chibi, whom fans interpreted as a parody of Fred Figglehorn. In 2019, ''Insider'' wrote that Jackson was "best known for his objectifying content and controversial reputation", and detailed that "he rates pictures that women submit to him, gives his opinions on their bodies, and comments on other YouTubers". Many of the submissions that Jackson accepted and featured in his videos were of girls under the age of eighteen.

In 2009, Jackson uploaded "Banana Song (I'm a Banana)", which went viral. The video featured Jackson "jumping around screaming in a banana suit", as well as his first wife, Skye Tantaga. "Banana Song" was featured on the Comedy Central series ''Tosh.0'' as the "Viewer Video of the Week" in 2010.

In 2011, Jackson posted a number of clips with his then-girlfriend, Canadian singer Shiloh Hoganson. In some of them, however, Hoganson is seen apparently experiencing transient amnesia; Adrienne Jourgensen, an ex-girlfriend of Jackson's, published a letter stating that Jackson believed Hoganson was lying about her memory loss. Jackson and Hoganson later stated that she was pregnant with Jackson's child but suffered a miscarriage. On August 11, 2019, a 2011 video featuring Hoganson resurfaced online. In it, Jackson is heard telling her, "You know this video is never going to be online, right? No one will ever know how much I abuse you", before throwing candy corn at her and laughing as she cried. Hoganson also states in the video that Jackson lacerated her ear with scissors while she was sleeping.

Reception and criticism

Jackson's on-camera and off-camera activity has received criticism from online media outlets as well as from fellow online content creators. In 2010, ''Tubefilter'' listed Jackson as one of "5 YouTubers On Their Way Up", alongside Shane Dawson and the Fine Brothers. The outlet described Jackson's channel as frequently updated with a "very rough, in-your-face R-rated style" and called Jackson "the most controversial YouTuber". In 2012, ''The Daily Dot'' described Jackson as "known for his militant vegetarianism, sex appeal, comedic skits, and controversial views on topics like circumcision." The publication has also criticized his content on multiple occasions; in 2013, James Cook wrote for the outlet, calling Jackson "YouTube's most troubled star".

In 2018, Jackson was included on a ''Daily Dot''-published list of six YouTubers "worse" than Logan Paul. The outlet opined that " ackson'svideos these days 018are just as obnoxious and irritating as they were nine years ago when he first struck YouTube gold with a truly terrible song about being a banana." Jackson has also received criticism from fellow YouTubers, notably Daniel Sulzbach (known online as "MrRepzion" or "Repzion"), Strange Æons, and Blaire White. In a 2019 email to ''Insider'', Jackson shared that "People hated me, with a passion, for my opinions I openly held." In late 2019, ''Insider'' called Jackson "one of YouTube's most reviled personalities".

Controversies and legal issues

Event and platform bans

Jackson was banned from VidCon 2012 due to a video in which he stated that since his then girlfriend Adrienne Jourgensen slept with more than 20 people before she was with him, she is a "slut" and therefore "cannot be raped". The video then received backlash from viewers outside of Jackson's core audience, as noted by ''NewMediaRockstars'' and ''The Daily Dot''. VidCon co-founder Hank Green sent an email to Jackson stating "if it is possible that you will not be safe, we will not let you come o VidCon" Jackson responded to the ban in a Facebook post stating: "If you want someone to blame for my absence, you can blame the haters who spammed VidCon with anti-Onision mail and VidCon itself for giving into the pressure and going back on their word."

In November 2019, Jackson was banned from Patreon after posting the phone number of Billie Dawn Webb, a fellow YouTuber. Webb was one of several women who claimed Jackson and his spouse had groomed and manipulated them into a sexual relationship or otherwise engaged in harassment and abuse. Patreon confirmed in a statement to ''The Verge'' that they had banned Jackson "as he violated our Bullying and Harassment olicyas it relates to doxing." In response to the ban, Jackson uploaded a video where he seemingly contorted himself, stripped down to his underwear, and poured a bottle of kombucha over his head. Jackson later said that this video, alongside a series of follow-up videos, were staged. Jackson subsequently opened a new website where his supporters could re-donate, but shut it down shortly after its launch.

In January 2021, following the release of ''Onision: In Real Life'', Jackson's channels were suspended from the YouTube Partner Program.

In media

A documentary about Jackson titled ''Onision: In Real Life'' was broadcast on January 4, 2021, during the launch of Discovery+, with Chris Hansen as producer and consultant.

Discography

*''Onision'' (2012)
*''Explicit'' (2012)
*''Bipolar'' (2012)
*''Flucking Blitch'' (2013)
*''The Puppet'' (2018)
*''Shut Up'' (2018)
*''With Character'' (2018)
*''The Banana Man'' (2019)
*''I'm a Meme'' (2019)
*''I Am Trash'' (2020)

Bibliography

Novels

*''Stones to Abbigale'' (2015)
*''This Is Why I Hate You'' (2015)
*''Reaper's Creek'' (2018)

Biography

*''In Real Life'' (2023)

References

External links

Jackson's website as it appeared in 2004.
*
*YouTube channels:

Onision

OnisionSpeaks
*

{{Authority control

1985 births
Living people
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American male writers
American former Christians
American atheists
American comedy YouTubers
American critics of religions
YouTubers from Washington (state)
Former Seventh-day Adventists
Internet-related controversies
Place of birth missing (living people)
United States Air Force airmen
Vegetarian-related mass media
American YouTube vloggers
Writers from Washington (state)
YouTube channels launched in 2006