Sidemen and their girlfriends offer telling responses to KSI leaving group
Not everyone is convinced that KSI's exit from the Sidemen is as amicable as he is making out.
The social media star, 32, has insisted that the six surviving members 'knew it was coming for a while' - but fans don't seem to think that was the case.
Simon Minter, Josh Bradley, Vikram Barn, Tobi Brown, Ethan Payne and Harry Lewis are now one man down in wake of KSI dramatically announcing his departure on Sunday (31 May).
The Sidemen have enjoyed an incredibly lucrative run for more than a decade - and managed to conquer the world of content creation, branch out into reality TV, raise millions for charity and acquire millions of loyal followers.
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But KSI revealed that he was leaving the Sidemen as he currently can't give the YouTube group his all. He told fans that the lads 'deserve someone who can give 100 percent'.
"Right now I know I can't do that," the Britain's Got Talent judge said. "It just wouldn't be fair on the boys, it wouldn't be fair to you and it wouldn't be fair to myself.
"Walking away from something you love is it's it's painful. Trust me, this has not been easy. But deep down, deep down, I know it's the right thing to do."
The Sidemen said that the news of KSI's exit 'came as a surprise'.
Prime co-founder KSI then shared another statement on Wednesday (3 June) where he 'directly' addressed the remaining members of the Sidemen and acknowledged that a few of them were 'angry' with him.
"I know you’re all grieving in your own way because of my decision, but you knew it was coming for a while," he said.
"And I know some of you are angry, some of you don’t want to accept it, some of you might even hate me, and some of you are just upset. It’s ok, I’ll always be here for you. I always have been here for you.
"Don’t see this as the end, see this as a new era or a new beginning. Be optimistic. Think positively. You have an audience that adore you. An audience that enjoy the content. An audience that have grown with us.
"You’re all very entertaining so don’t think otherwise. You’ve done this without me before and it was great haha. But in the end you know how I am, so you know that I have to do this for my sanity...I love you guys."
This only encouraged further speculation that something must have gone down behind the scenes, as a lot of social media users questioned why he didn't explain this to the Sidemen in private.
"Speaking directly to the boys via an Instagram post is crazy," one person commented. "Wtf actually happened?"
Another added: "Why do I feel like you and the boys aren’t really seeing eye to eye in this situation…"
A third wrote: "Considering he mentioned the fact some of the boys are angry, makes me feel like this wasn’t all that amicable," while a fourth then joked: "Who's dropping the first diss track?"
The responses shared by some members of the Sidemen individually - and their girlfriends - have also ramped up rumours about an alleged feud.
KSI previously said that 'nothing bad has happened' and that 'this decision is completely his own'...but some fans think the 'strange' reactions from his fellow content creators suggest otherwise.
'Strange' reactions from Sidemen and their significant others
Simon Minter, better known online as Miniminter, said he was taken aback to hear that KSI had suddenly shared the news on Sunday.
In a vlog which he filmed before attending Soccer Aid in support of his pals such as Angry Ginge, the 33-year-old said: "You may have seen the news that has just been dropped.
"I didn’t know that video was going out now so I’m expecting a lot of people to just ask me about that..."
YouTube star Vik - who is also known as Vikram Singh Barn, Vikkstar123 and Vikkstar - kept it short and sweet when it came to crafting a personal response to the news that KSI was leaving.
Amid speculation that the Sidemen might be staging an elaborate prank, he confirmed this was not the case with a short post on X that read: "Sadly this isn’t a prank…we wish JJ all the best."
Harry Lewis, who is also dubbed W2S, also shared a cryptic post on X, but it has since been deleted. It read: "Send me your fav W2S and KSI Sidemen moments to react to, I just got a brand deal through."
The significant other of Zerkaa, AKA Josh Bradley, also had an unusual response when quizzed about her thoughts on KSI's exit.
"I’m not gonna talk on it until the boys have," Freya Nightingale said during a stream. "That’s all I have to say. And even after the boys talk on it, will I talk on it? Probably not. It’s nothing to do with me.
"It’s not my business. So, for me to come on here and talk about things that the boys haven’t specifically spoken about themselves yet, I feel like is a bit disrespectful. That's all I'm going to say on the matter."
Singer and streamer Talia Mar, who is married to Minter, took a similar stance while she was conversing with her fans.
"I’m obviously not gonna talk about the JJ stuff," she said. "It’s not my place to. Yes, it’s true. But yeah, we need to let everyone process it and they can talk on it when they want to. That’s not for me to have conversations about."
According to KSI's business partner Logan Paul, his departure is the result of him wanting to take his foot off the gas a little bit.
The Impaulsive podcast host said: "I don’t want to air out his information but generally, he was excited to get some time back for himself and for what he wants to do with his life.
"He’s growing as a creator, and as a person - as we all are. He’s an adult now and he just wants time and Sidemen was taking a lot of time. It’s a massive channel and their output is a lot."
Topics: KSI, Celebrity, Social Media, YouTube
Olivia Burke