TikTok's Most Notable Squad, The Hype House, Is Facing A Major Split As Numerous Members Float A Competing Group 4440 Hype House
The Hype House — the first creator collective to go mega-viral on TikTok — appears to be a house divided. The Los Angeles group, which previously included twenty of the platform's most-followed creators, seems to have fractured amid an , a 21-year-old vlogger who is widely considered to be the group's co-founder, along with 17-year-old TikTok prodigy Chase Hudson. Per Petrou's Instagram bio, he is also the Hype House's "manager." Until recently, Petrou and Keech were friends as well as collaborators, but the relationship became strained when Keech began voicing a desire for recognition as the group's third co-founder. Now, Keech could be cutting ties with the group entirely. "Daisy is establishing a new house, and it's unclear, you know, based on ongoing trademark disputes, whether the new house will have a Hype House name or another name," Chris Young, Keech's lawyer, told Insider. Already, Keech has invited several of the Hype House's existing members to join her new venture. More information has yet to be announced. But, as of Monday, multiple members of the Hype House, including Keech, Patrick Huston, Connor Yates, Calvin Golby, and Wyatt Xavier, were unfollowed by the group's shared Instagram account. According to Young, Keech previously had access to the account, but the password was changed and she is currently "locked out." At the heart of the controversy are three important questions. Last week, that multiple, competing applications to trademark "The Hype House" have been filed. Three of the applications belong to Keech, who first filed in January. At the end of February, however, an entity called "The Hype House LLC" filed two applications of its own. Cole Hudson — father of Hype House co-founder Chase Hudson AKA lilhuddy — is listed as a primary point of contact for the newly formed corporation. This week, in a private conversation with Cole Hudson, Young said he sought to clarify Keech's reasons for pursuing the trademark. According to Young, Keech filed the application mainly as a protective and preventative measure against intellectual property squatting. Afterward, she hoped the group would be able to collectively agree upon each person's business ownership percentage. "And we even indicated to them that, you know, there could be people that have larger ownerships than Daisy if it felt right. We wanted a democratic process. We wanted everyone at the table." Hudson, however, shared a different view of the situation. "They seem to think that we filed a trademark and did not include them on it..." Young explained. "In reality, we had asked them to come and speak to us after we filed the trademark." On Tuesday, it that Chase Hudson had unfollowed Keech on Instagram, according to a post on @tiktokroom confirmed by Insider. WME, Hudson's representation, did not respond for on the record comment. After learning The Hype House will be launching its debut line of 90s-inspired merchandise later this month, Young sent a cease and desist letter to Petrou asking him to obtain Keech's consent before using the trademark. But, for the time being, Petru is moving forward with the project as planned. On Tuesday, a first look at the line was released on Instagram. For Keech, another point of contention is how Petrou is using and modifying the house. Last weekend, Keech — whose name is on the lease for the house, but no longer lives there, according to Young — confronted Petrou during a shoot, sparking a verbal altercation between the two. Reportedly, Petrou made certain allowances in the house — a rental — that could jeopardize Keech's deposit. Among those allowances were renovations Petrou was making to the interior without notifying the landlord. Now, Young said, Petrou is trying to "rally other members of the house" against Keech in an attempt "to intimidate her from coming into her own property." Petrou did not respond to multiple requests for comment. "She asserted to us that she is the reason that they have the house," Young said of Keech. "Because she, at the time, had been the only one that could qualify based on income. She was the only one that qualified for the lease." For now, neither party has stated their intent to litigate the situation. And for the most part, it's been business as usual for both Keech, Petrou, and the rest of the collective on social media. The clear exception, however, was a series of posts Petrou shared on Monday and Tuesday. An initial post on the Hype House's Instagram story read, "@PETROUTV WAS HACKED. IN CASE THEY POST ANYTHING it isn't me." Later, on his personal account's Instagram story, Petrou added: "Got it back. Let's just say someone paid to have me hacked." "Not only did they hack me," he continued in an update. "They tried to hack all my PayPal, venmo, cash app, bank account and take all my money." Petrou ended the story with a selfie, captioned "Today was a long day." On Tuesday, Petrou shared a similarly worrying post. Petrou and his representatives, however, did not respond to requests for comment. Other members have yet to publicly weigh into the drama. Notably, the group's most influential star, 15-year-old Charli D'Amelio, made no mention of The Hype House during a Tuesday night on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." She did, however, announce some kind of U.S. tour to meet fans this summer.
How should ownership of the business be divided?
Who should own the rights to the brand name?
Is the house itself just a place for the group's talent to stay, or an integral part of the business?
Where does the Hype House go from here?
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