Trisha Paytas' 10 most shocking controversies before Euphoria season 3
From a 'Japanese popstar' to naming her child 'Aquaman'
Trisha Paytas has a mysterious role in Euphoria season 3 – and, before it premieres, these are the influencer’s biggest controversies to date.
The 37-year-old rose to fame (and infamy) on YouTube. As of April 2026, she has 5.14 million subscribers and almost one billion views on her main channel.
Her vlogs originally revolved around her love of Quentin Tarantino, but she eventually pivoted to fashion, beauty, and life advice – as well as a lot of trolling. Paytas has since released dozens of EPs, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, and starred in a Broadway production (more on that later).
So, ahead of her debut (one of the best HBO Max shows), these are the most notable and shocking times she’s sparked backlash to date.
First, who is Trisha Paytas playing in Euphoria season 3?
Before we get into her controversies, you’re probably wondering who Trisha Paytas has been cast to play in Euphoria season 3.
In short, we don’t know… yet. According to internet personality Drew Afualo, Paytas sent in a self-tape, and the role was for a podcaster who berates men. This hasn’t been confirmed, and Peytas hasn’t given anything away either.
Trisha Paytas outed her ex-boyfriend
In 2016, Paytas uploaded several videos (all of which have since been deleted) discussing how her ex-boyfriend, Sean van der Wilt, had allegedly cheated on her.
In the third of a series of videos, as she sobbed, she claimed she’d been told that he was spotted in a gay bar kissing another man. In a later video, Paytas claimed Van Der Wilt was suing her, but it’s unclear if this ever happened.
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People online were not impressed. “I feel no sympathy for Trisha Paytas. You can’t just make a video outing someone for being gay because your heart hurts,” one user wrote on X/Twitter.
In a 2020 video, Van Der Wilt was asked if he still had feelings from Paytas in a Q&A. “Yes, and I always will,” he said.
Accusations of racism
Paytas has been accused of racism on multiple occasions. For example, there are videos of her saying the n-word as she raps lyrics, her Ice Spice costume was criticised, and her song, ‘Leonardo DiCaprio’, features this lyric: “You can whip me every night, just like Django.”
She also gave a reason for why she isn’t racist – but that’s linked to another controversy on this list, so we’ll come back to it.
Everything she’s said about Israel and Palestine
Paytas has waded into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on multiple occasions, with one video particularly sparking outrage.
In a previous TikTok, Paytas could be seen wearing an Israel Defence Forces t-shirt. It was captioned: “When you take you boyfriends Israeli identity and all the comments are free Palestine – and you’re just trying to figure out where Palestine even is and why it needs to be freed.”
@trishlikefish88For the record I want peace everywhere in the world 🥺🥺 stop fighting♬
As is the case with some of her other controversies, this is blatant ‘rage bait’: content engineered to attract engagement from angry people.
However, in July last year, Paytas donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians, and she’s since spoken in support of Palestine while also criticising anti-Semitism.
Trishi Paytas’ Japanese popstar character
In the early 2010s, Paytas created a new character: Trishii, supposedly modelled on Japanese popstars.
Whether it was her make-up, the accent, or the lyrics of her song, ‘Kiss Kiss’ (“Arigato, fanbotos”), it was widely criticised.
She has since deleted her Trishii videos. However, in a clip still available online, she defends herself by saying: “I’m also not rice because I eat rice.”
Her ‘chicken nugget’ identity and transgender videos
Paytas’ videos about her identity – whether that be a chicken nugget or claiming to be transgender – have also sparked backlash in the past.
In one video (which has since been deleted), she claimed to identify as a chicken nugget (again, clear rage bait).
In 2019, she released a video (which has been deleted) titled, ‘I AM TRANSGENDER (FEMALE TO MALE)’.
Claiming to identify as a “gay man”, she told viewers: “So do I think I’m transgender? Yes, one thousand percent. Do I identify with my natural born gender? A thousand percent. So I think that’s where I’m at and I feel really free and liberated.”
This was widely branded as “insulting” and “degrading”. Paytas has since said she prefers she/her and they/them pronouns.
Trisha Paytas’ false claims about a teacher’s sexual assault
This one is a bit messy, so bear with us (and we’ll keep it as brief as possible).
In 2021, Paytas appeared on the Frenemies podcast and accused a teacher of sexually assaulting her. According to Paytas, he was later arrested for looking for indecent material of children.
However, a YouTube channel called MYSTERIOUS uploaded a video debunking her claims.
“I was told inaccurate information as I often misspoke on situations that I just believed without researching. I had reported this molestation as a teenager,” Paytas later claimed.
In the wake of her seemingly false allegations and mounting criticism, Paytas took down over 1,300 videos from her channel.
Naming her child Aquaman
Paytas has three children: Malibu Barbie, Elvis… and Aquaman.
It’d be fair to say these aren’t ordinary names, but Aquaman is especially eye-opening. “[Husband Moses Hacmon’s] whole philosophy was, ‘We’re just water.’ I loved it, we should just name the baby Water,” she said on her podcast.
In the end, they landed on Aquaman.
Backlash quickly arose online, and even DC Studios chief James Gunn expressed concern that he’d get made fun of in school. Others came up with another theory: that her child’s name is something else entirely, and this is another example of rage bait that also protects his privacy.
Her ‘feud’ with Charli and Dixie D’Amelio
Charli D’Amelio is the second-most-followed person in the world on TikTok, with nearly 157 million followers.
That has made the 21-year-old an easy target for criticism over the years – including from Paytas, who said Charli and her sister Dixie were “ungrateful” and “unbecoming”. Bear in mind, at this time, Paytas was 32, while Charli was 16.
Charli eventually apologised for any controversial behaviour and asked Paytas to stop talking about her. Paytas returned the apology… and then retracted it.
Later, Dixie posted a video of her dancing to a video of Paytas rapping along to NWA’s ‘F— Tha Police’, in which she says the n-word.
OnlyFans promotions while pregnant
Paytas launched her OnlyFans profile in 2021. A year later, Paytas continued to promote her account… while 16 weeks pregnant.
“Cue incoming sex work shaming because I’m a mom comments,” she wrote in one post.
The reaction online was swift and near-unanimous. “Maybe give it a break for 9 months, money isn’t everything,” one user wrote.
“No one’s shaming you for doing it as a mom, just that you’re exploiting your unborn baby,” another alleged.
“No one with half a brain is shaming you for being a sex worker while pregnant. The issue is that you’re SEXUALISING your pregnancy,” a third posted.
Trisha Paytas’ Broadway debut in Beetlejuice
In November 2025, Paytas made her Broadway debut as Maxine Dean in Beetlejuice.
Given her long list of controversies, people questioned why she was allowed such an extraordinary opportunity.
Paytas responded online, writing: “Hi, I appreciate your concerns. And based on the things you’ve read. I too would be alarmed.
“I do not negate that I’ve hurt communities in the past. But you can look up over a dozen charities I’ve donated over hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past five years, to, as you put it, help absolve some of that.
“I will never ever stop apologising for my wrongdoings. I can only move forward, be better, and use my voice and money to help all those communities I deeply care about.”
In March 2020, Paytas claimed to have dissociative identity disorder. While this was met with scepticism, Paytas said in a video that it was “crazy that people are doubting” her.
Paytas has also spoken about struggling with substance abuse; on one occasion, she alleged she was once hospitalised after a methamphetamine overdose.
Read more: Euphoria creator reveals Angus Cloud’s Fezco’s fate in season 3 after actor’s real-life death
