Vitaly Zdorovetskiy
Early life and education
Zdorovetskiy was born Vitali Aleksandrovich Zdorovetskiy in 1992 in Murmansk, Russia. As a child, he lived in Odesa, Ukraine. Vitaly and his mother immigrated to the United States when he was 14, being allowed to keep his Russian citizenship and legally removing his patriarchal name. He grew up in Boca Raton, Florida and attended Park Vista Community High School.
Zdorovetskiy attempted to become a professional skateboarder at an early age but quit due to injuries.
In the video titled "Why I Did Porn!", he tells his audience he got his first job at age 15 as a garbage collector making $5.00 an hour. His second job was a sign-spinner dressed as Uncle Sam making $20 for 3 hours of work. After that, Vitaly picked up a job as a bus boy at a restaurant in Miami, Florida. Shortly after turning 18, Zdorovetskiy took part in an adult film scene with pornographic actress Diamond Kitty for the adult entertainment company Bang Bros in 2011.
Career
In 2012, Zdorovetskiy received his first significant success, with the video "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" Inspired by the cannibal attack of a homeless man in Miami in May 2012, he dressed up as a zombie and traveled to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami to scare random bystanders. By January 2015, the "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" had been viewed more than 30 million times. A sequel video prank was produced in Columbus, Ohio.
On June 16, 2012, Zdorovetskiy and cameraman Jonathan Vanegas filmed the "Russian Hitman Prank". As part of the prank, Zdorovetskiy approached a Boca Raton Resort man and informed him they had 60 seconds to get away from a briefcase he placed on the ground. After Zdorovetskiy revealed the whole thing to be a prank and that there was a hidden camera nearby, the man started attacking him and his partner and called the police. Zdorovetskiy was arrested by Boca Raton police department, facing a maximum of 15 years in prison on charges of threatening to detonate a bomb. Shortly after taking the deposition of the alleged victim, the case was dismissed by the prosecutor. At the time of the prank, Zdorovetskiy's YouTube channel had only about 100,000 subscribers, but after the incident his channel grew to over four million subscribers within just over a year.
On July 20, 2013, Zdorovetskiy released the video "Extreme Homeless Man Makeover", in which he befriends a homeless man named Martin and provides him with new clothes and a hotel room. The video posting resulted in a job offer that Martin accepted. He was also reunited with his wife. The project also included an attempt to raise money to have Martin's teeth fixed, for which Zdorovetskiy was able to raise about $10,000 online. The fundraising campaign was canceled before it was completed, because of Zdorovetskiy's criminal history. However, Zdorovetskiy received several offers from surgeons to do the dental work for free. The surgery and the video story was featured on television news casts including the Good Day LA Fox morning show.
His "Gold Digger Prank", featuring a woman who rejects his advances until she believes he drives a Lamborghini Gallardo sports car, generated more than 18 million views in its first week of posting, making VitalyzdTV the third most watched YouTube channel in the world during that week with over 45 million views.
On October 15, 2014, Zdorovetskiy pulled a prank which involved himself dressing up as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, pretending to saw off the legs of Hanhart syndrome patient Nick Santonastasso with a chainsaw in front of unsuspecting witnesses. The prank went viral, receiving over 30 million views in 3 weeks.
While being in Croatia in 2015, he pranked former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader, while Sanader was leaving Remetinec prison where he was serving his sentence for corruption charges by jumping on Sanader's car while he and his lawyers were inside.
In November 2015, Lionsgate officially acquired worldwide distribution rights for a film in which Zdorovetskiy starred, Natural Born Pranksters.
In 2022, Zdorovetskiy became an active member on the subscription-based website OnlyFans. On 2 July, he announced on Twitter that he was about to release a sex tape. Zdorovetskiy subsequently released a series of pornographic videos with fellow OnlyFans content creator Delia Rose, advertising themselves on Twitter.
Since 2024, Zdorovetskiy started streaming on Kick. He currently has around 300,000 followers on platform.
Controversies and arrests
In 2014, Zdorovetskiy was arrested for invading the field during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina in Brazil.
On May 25, 2016, he was arrested for trespassing after climbing the Hollywood Sign, as part of a video stunt. On June 10, he was again arrested for streaking during Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, with security quickly apprehending and arresting the YouTuber.
During the bottom of the 7th inning in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, he was arrested for running onto the field at Minute Maid Park shortly after Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros hit a home run.
Zdorovetskiy is currently facing a ban from attending major sporting events for his antics. However, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final between England and New Zealand, Zdorovetskiy's mother, Elena Vulitsky attempted to emulate her son's girlfriend's success at the Champions League final. Vulitsky was pictured wearing clothing with the "Vitaly Uncensored" logo on it, but was stopped by stewards from streaking.
In January 2020, Zdorovetskiy was arrested and spent five days in an Egyptian jail after climbing the Pyramids of Giza.
In April 2020, he was arrested and later charged for aggravated battery by Miami Beach Police. Zdorovetskiy allegedly tackled a female jogger and struck her multiple times in the head and chest. He was released from custody after posting a $7,500 bond.
Exhibition boxing record
| 2 fights | 1 win | 0 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Win | 1–0–1 | MoDeen | TKO | 1 (3), 2:58 | 23 Mar 2024 | Worldwide Stages, Nashville, Tennessee, US | |
| 1 | Draw | 0–0–1 | Kristen Hanby | MD | 4 | 5 Mar 2022 | Wembley Arena, London, England |
References
- ^ "About VitalyzdTv". YouTube.
- ^ "How YouTube Stars 'Natural Born Pranksters' Turned Practical Jokes Into a Lucrative Business". ABC News. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- ^ "Vitaly Uncensored". vitalyuncensored.com.
- ^ "Unknown". youtube.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019.
- ^ Bryant Eng (February 5, 2013). "FAU's Prank-Star: Vitaly Zdorovetskiy". University Press Online. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Clarkson, Brett; Komenda, Ed; Sentinel, Sun (July 17, 2012). "'Miami Zombie Attack' pranksters Jonathan Vanegas, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy arrested after prank fails". wptv.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
- ^ Chase Hoffberger (June 17, 2012). "YouTube Rascal Vitaly Zdorovetskiy arrested for bomb hoax". Daily Dot. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Jeff Nadel (December 8, 2013). "Youtube pranksters gone good". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Terrence McCoy (August 13, 2013). "Indiegogo Closes Vitaly Zdorovetskiy's Campaign To Fix Homeless Guy's Teeth". Palm Beach New Times. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Jeffrey Thomas DeSocio (November 6, 2013). "Vitaly: The Extreme Homeless Makeover". Fox 11. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
- ^ Mike Shields (October 22, 2013). "Gold Digger Prank Nabs 18 Million YouTube Views in a Week Motorboarding for breast cancer, Aquaman round out VideoWatch ranker". Adweek. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ^ Joshua Cohen (October 26, 2013). "Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide – Week Of 10/25/13". TubeFilter. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ^ Scott Stump (January 29, 2014). "'Dead' man living: Disabled teen-turned-Internet star 'lives by inspiring others'". TODAY.com.
- ^ "Vitaly Zdorovetskiy zajahao Sanaderov auto" [Vitaly Zdorovetsky rode Sanader's car]. T portal (in Croatian). Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ Waxman, Olivia B. (November 6, 2015). "Lionsgate Picks Up Movie About YouTube Pranksters". TIME.com. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ @Vitalyzdtv (July 2, 2022). "Yooo!!! Mark Your Calendars - July 10th, We Leak Our Tape 📼😈💦" (Tweet). Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ @deliarosee1 (August 10, 2022). "NEW VIDEO !!! Link in bio 🤪💜" (Tweet). Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Vitaly". Kick.com.
- ^ White, Ted (January 4, 2018). "Youtube celebrity kicked out of Boca Raton Resort and Club, hours after checking in". WPBF. Boca Raton. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- ^ "YouTube Star Arrested After Climbing Hollywood Sign". Variety. May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ "Youtuber VitalyZDTV Streaks 2016 NBA Finals". Opencourt Basketball. June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ "Shirtless fan runs onto the field in Game 5 of the World Series - NY Daily News". NY Daily News. October 30, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
- ^ "World Cup 2019: Streaker attempts pitch invasion in ENG vs NZ final". Indian Express. Guwahati. July 14, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- ^ Ali, Rasha. "Man jailed after climbing Egyptian pyramid for social media stunt". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
- ^ "A Huge YouTuber Has Been Arrested For Allegedly Attacking A Woman Out For A Jog". BuzzFeed News. April 15, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "YouTube prankster arrested after attack on Miami Beach jogger, TMZ reports". SunSentinel. April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
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