The YouTuber Timo “LIONTTV” was a guest on the EDELTALK podcast and talked about his time on YouTube. He was one of the biggest on the platform in the 2010s until he released an album, which led to a massive wave of hate against him.
Who is it about? If you were on YouTube in the 2010s, you couldn’t miss one name: LIONTTV or Liont. He was the friend of Dagi Bee, another very big name on the platform, and mainly produced comedy videos.
He was at the center with his personality or the public relationship between him and Dagi Bee. His YouTube channel surpassed the 1 million subscriber mark in 2014, and everything seemed flawless for the YouTuber until he released his album.
In the EDELTALK podcast on YouTube, Liont talked about his time on YouTube and also about his downfall due to the intense hate against him.
HandOfBlood was also a big YouTuber at that time:
“I had achieved everything”
Why was Liont hated? It all started in 2015 when Liont released his album Löwenkind . Löwenkind was the term for his fans, and the album included a total of 14 songs. With the album, Liont also went on tour.
Since the album was categorized in the Hip Hop/Pop-Rap genre and even made it into the German charts – reaching 2nd place for a week (Source: offiziellecharts.de) –, Liont came under fire from German rappers, particularly from the rapper Gio.
Gio subsequently released a diss track – “Kein Rapper” – against Liont, in which he accused the YouTuber of various things, including greed for money. In the 2010s, it was still quite frowned upon to make big money from social media. The accusation of being greedy for money and wanting to “exploit” his fans quickly surfaced.
Dagi Bee and other lifestyle YouTubers often had to hear this as well. A statement that today seems almost ridiculous with the very well-earning YouTubers and Twitch streamers.
How did hate become a trend? Through the diss track, but also through the repeated attacks from other YouTubers, such as HandOfBlood, it became a kind of trend to dislike Liont. The communities of the various YouTubers followed their role models and targeted Liont.
In EDELTALK, Liont shares how that time was for him: He received numerous death threats and felt as if the whole world hated him.
The hate went so far, Liont reports, that even friends or YouTube colleagues with whom he had collaborated repeatedly distanced themselves from him. The situation ultimately pushed Liont into alcoholism and severe psychological problems.
Liont further states: “It was this time on YouTube when everything really worked. Everything worked, no matter what you did. […] that’s why the fall was so severe for me. I had reached the top, I had achieved everything. There was no higher. And then from up there, wham, completely down, double somersault, broken neck, everything. Sick.” (Source: YouTube from minute 27:56).
“Not proud of it at all”
What is the current status of Liont? By now, the hate, but also the hype around Liont has subsided. Liont sought psychological treatment and was able to heal. Actors who were involved in stirring up the hate at that time have since publicly apologized.
Gio joined Liont in a stream (excerpt on YouTube) and reacted with him to the diss track. They reviewed the time and the rapper apologized to the YouTuber.
HandOfBlood also recognized his mistake and showed remorse: “Today I must say that I am very ashamed of it, because with all the fun that one might have had or how great you might remember those videos, you just have to say that it was extremely antisocial and we probably hurt him quite a bit. I am not proud of it at all.” (Source: YouTube from minute 00:08).
On his YouTube channel LIONTTV, Liont talks in his podcast about his time and problems. But there are also reactions to various videos, alongside new music. In short: Liont’s YouTube channel seems to encompass everything the YouTuber enjoys nowadays.
Liont achieved success primarily back then with YouTube because he created a lot of content with his then-girlfriend Dagi Bee, who is also a YouTuber. Their public relationship was featured in a documentary: A new documentary shows the rise and fall of YouTube Germany’s first dream couple
