Several artists who have millions of subscribers on YouTube fell victim to a hacking incident on Tuesday, 5th April 2022. According to reports, hacked YouTube channels belong to top tier celebrities like Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Drake, Ariana Grande, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, and Lil Nas X.
Vevo, a hosting service that provides music videos to YouTube said that it would conduct a review of security systems. It further said that an unauthorized source directly uploaded some videos to the channels of artists. Vevo has since deleted those videos but was unable to identify the culprit.
Hacked YouTube Channels Spam Strange Videos
Social media users started posting snapshots on social media to raise concerns regarding the possible hack attack. The pictures showed that the hacker uploaded some strange videos that had no link with the owners of hacked YouTube channels. For example, from Justin Bieber’s account, the hacker posted a video titled “Justin bieber – Free Paco Sanz (ft. Will Smith, Chris Rock, Skinny flex & Los Pelaos)”. This title is a mashup of words that were made to look like a song’s name but actually sends a different message. There is a phrase “free Paco Sanz” written along with click baits like Will Smith and Chris Rock.
According to reports, Paco Sanz is a Spanish criminal who conned thousands by faking a terminal illness. He was also known as “a man with 2000 tumours” and is currently serving in prison. The uploaded video showed Sanz holding a guitar backwards and singing in Spanish. The words “free Paco Sanz” seem like an agenda to free him from prison.
Another video uploaded on Harry Styles’ YouTube, was titled, “Daddy Yankee – SPEED IS THE BEST HACKED BY @LOSPELAOSBRO ON TWITTER”. It showed some men wearing hoodies with “speed” written on them. They appear to be dancing aimlessly to some version of “Hit the Road Jack” by Ray Charles.
Twitter User Claiming Responsibility
A Twitter account with the handle @lospelaosbro posted a comment that made him seem like the culprit. It appeared that he was claiming the responsibility for hacked YouTube accounts as he asked others to suggest who to hack next. The reality of this account is unknown but it seems that his profile picture is of the same conman, Paco Sanz. This account was created this month and it has already gained nearly 10,000 followers.
Fans Making Fun of the Situation
While there were many who had genuine concerns about the years of hard work that these artists have put in, there were also those who enjoyed the entire episode.
