Cole LaBrant first rose to internet fame in the brief but shining moment when Vine was a big deal. After his “promposal” went viral on the social media platform, he was able to leverage his newfound internet fame into an appearance on The Amazing Race alongside his mother, Sheri. From there, he became a YouTube sensation, along with his wife, Savannah, and his step-daughter, Everleigh.
But now the famous YouTubers are coming under fire for posting a video of themselves evacuating their house in California, allegedly to flee the rapidly spreading Holy Wildfire.
You can watch the whole video below:
In the video LaBrant talks about how close the fires are and how they may “need to evacuate.” He cuts to images of smoke rising from the mountains. Eventually, he claims they’ve received an evacuation order, and the family packs up. They pick up Everleigh from her grandparents’ house, explaining how they’re going to find safety from the fire. Then it turns into a straight-up travel video about a trip to San Francisco.
But neighbors told Fox 11 a different story:
There was no evacuation notice to Ladera Ranch.
Ladera Ranch is the town the LaBrants live in. And, in fact, no such evacuation order was listed on the National Wildfire Coordinating Website. These wildfires burned over 22,000 acres of land and took the lives of eight people.
Things escalated until the LaBrants blocked social media accounts from Ladera Ranch residents who called them out.
YouTubers nowadays have to fake it just to make it get a real fucking job pls lmao pic.twitter.com/EVTzJEQ6pH
— sammy misky (@sammymisky) August 17, 2018
my sister called her out on instagram and sav blocked her lol
— Brooke (@brookkewhite) August 18, 2018
I called them out for using their daughter for views and he blocked me lmao
— Kate (@Bestillmyheart2) August 19, 2018
Looking at a map, it’s clear how far the LaBrants were from real danger.
People were shaking their damn heads.
first the Ace Family are accused of faking their robbery AND NOW Cole Labrant and his wife are accused of faking their house evacuation? I dunno about y’all but I’m enjoying the tea this week pic.twitter.com/dXvPS3fyK5
— ー isa loves tøp (@IsabellaAmpie) August 22, 2018
youtubers r so weird…
— then perish. (@LOVEBUGLORENA) August 22, 2018
how do they fake a whole home invasion AND fake evacuate their county AND just be all around r*cist and messy …. stay home all of u !!
— then perish. (@LOVEBUGLORENA) August 22, 2018
WILD
— crystal (@crystalleww) August 23, 2018
will absolutely be following up on this on next weeks podcast, truly wild. makes me wanna do a deep dive on weirdo youtube celebrities (like the two last year who faked getting their sex tape leaked)
— Joan Summers (@joaniesucks) August 23, 2018
And one person put things in stark perspective.
there was a fire 7 miles from my home. my friend actually lost her home
— smithjarred2002 (@smithjarrod2002) August 22, 2018
Real people lost their lives and homes.