The Shady Side Of SSSniperWolf

Alia "SSSniperWolf" Shelesh is one of the more divisive figures in the streaming industry today, and that's saying something. The YouTuber/cosplayer/influencer has built up millions of followers since she started creating content back in 2011. Originally known as sexysexysniper, she eventually rebranded as SSSniperWolf in 2013, naming herself after a "Metal Gear Solid" villain and becoming known for gaming, vlogs, and reaction content. It didn't take long for her to find an audience, but it also didn't take too long to attract a hefty amount of criticism.

Since her rise to prominence, SSSniperWolf has been scrutinized for her bluntness, sarcastic sense of humor, and style of content creation. Some have outright accused her of stealing content from other creators and passing it off as her own, while others have called into question just how genuine her online persona really is. SSSniperWolf has also become known for firing back at her haters with just as much intensity as they've shown her, which has made her more than a few enemies over the years. Here are some shady moments in SSSniperWolf's career that have given pause to even her biggest supporters.

SSSniperWolf drew serious criticism in 2021 after it came to light that she did not immediately follow through on a promise made to a terminally ill fan. In an episode of the "No Jumper" podcast, YouTuber Adam22 invited a 10-year-old cancer patient named Kiara onto the show to try and make some of her dreams come true. During the episode, Kiara mentioned that she wanted to meet SSSniperWolf, which prompted Adam22 and his crew to reach out to the YouTuber. Shortly afterward, SSSniperWolf sent her first message to the young girl's mother and asked if she could call her on Christmas Day. Despite initially being so excited to hear from SSSniperWolf, Kiara's mother became frustrated when the YouTuber stopped answering her messages.

The mother eventually got fed up when SSSniperWolf told her that she'd been too busy to arrange the call. At that point, the mother messaged her back to say, "You shouldn't have even reached out ... I told her you wanted to say hi and instead you blew off a dying ten year old girl for days." Not long after this, the messages between SSSniperWolf and Kiara's mother were shared publicly by YouTube channel Drama Alert.

SSSniperWolf fired back at the ensuing condemnation on Twitter, explaining that she had been able to send a video to Kiara after all. Still, the whole affair left a bad taste in people's mouths.

People just want an excuse to start drama. I have gotten into contact with the girls mom and I have sent her a video :)

— Lia (@sssniperwolf) December 28, 2021

SSSniperWolf has been fairly open with fans about her past run-ins with the law, but the two incidents have caused some concern and confusion among viewers. In 2013, SSSniperWolf was arrested under an armed robbery charge. Her partner at the time, Evan "Sausage" Young, was also arrested during the altercation. In a clip posted after the arrest, SSSniperWolf explained that she had been wrongfully accused of stealing, resulting in a physical altercation with an officer. 

Some skeptics have called into question how this altercation could have resulted in an armed robbery charge, as well as why Sausage would also be put in cuffs. Answers to those questions have apparently still not been given, and SSSniperWolf has since deleted the video discussing the incident from her channel. SSSniperWolf has laughed off the charge in later Q&A videos, explaining to fans that she doesn't want to get into personal topics like that anytime soon. "I'm not hiding anything," she said in a vlog from 2016, "there's just no reason to talk about it."

A second arrest occurred in 2016, this time due to an argument between SSSniperWolf and Sausage. In a video posted to her channel, SSSniperWolf explained that Sausage had changed the background on his phone to another woman while they were in the midst of an argument, which caused her to grow even more agitated. The police were called to their home after SSSniperWolf began screaming at Sausage while standing outside. The pair were placed into custody, but released shortly afterward. At the time, SSSniperWolf quipped, "at least my mugshot looks good."

so neighbors called cops cuz they heard screaming & I got arrested for disorderly conduct lol at my mugshot tho pic.twitter.com/llkNQrfr4L

— Lia (@sssniperwolf) August 14, 2016

Although they are still legally married, SSSniperWolf and Sausage broke up for good in 2022. SSSniperwolf confirmed as much in an X post from June 2023, explaining, "after 9 years things didn't work out." Not long after this, Sausage hit SSSniperWolf with a lawsuit and revealed just how difficult their relationship had really become.

The suit (according to court filings shared by The Messenger) alleges that SSSniperWolf has only just recently begun creating her own content. Sausage claims that much of her early content was created with him playing video games while SSSniperWolf reacted (sometimes with the aid of a script) and pretended to play herself. He also says that much of her reaction content was made possible by someone downloading TikToks and other clips for her to watch. Sausage is seeking financial compensation for the work he says he put in. According to Sausage, he's not seeing a cent for videos he helped create. The suit reads, "While Shelesh was the 'face' of the 'SSSniperwolf' YouTube channel, Young is and was at all times heavily involved in the creative content and operations, including but not limited to concept origination and development, script writing, directing, video editing, posting finished videos to the channel and market research and analysis, among other things."

The case is still ongoing. For many onlookers, however, these accusations have seemingly confirmed their suspicions about the drastic change in SSSniperWolf's content.

The feud between Jacksfilms and SSSniperWolf has become legendary among YouTube fans at this point, but here's the short and un-sweet version: In Summer 2023, comedian and YouTuber Jack "Jacksfilms" Douglass criticized SSSniperwolf for saying during a VidCon keynote speech that she gets a majority of her video ideas from her subscribers. Jacksfilms has argued that much of SSSniperwolf's newer content consists of reaction videos without much in the way of transformative material. In essence, Jacksfilms argued that SSSniperWolf essentially re-posts content stolen from TikTok and other creators, then essentially "reacts" to them by summarizing what's happening on screen. As a result, the two began a feud over social media that has continued to escalate.

To prove his point about SSSniperwolf's content, Jacksfilms created a separate channel (JJJacksfilms) dedicated to reacting to her videos and her angry tweets directed at him. SSSniperwolf contends that Jacksfilms is jealous of her success as a female content creator, while Jacksfilms has continued to make content parodying her output. Things came to a head in October 2023, when SSSniperwolf posted a picture of Jacksfilms' home on her Instagram story, along with a caption saying, "Let's talk like adults @jacksfilms." 

This post kicked off an entirely new controversy, with Jacksfilms and many others calling on YouTube to punish SSSniperwolf for releasing his location to the public in such a way. Some have even accused SSSniperWolf of being no better than the kinds of stalkers she's complained about in the past. For her own part, SSSniperwolf has denied any wrongdoing, writing, "It's so sad when people have to constantly create drama to pay their bills."

"I have no ill intentions"

Sssniperwolf, you showed up to our home tonight and filmed it for your 5M+ IG followers to see. That's called doxxing.

The "harassing" you claim I've been doing is documenting recent examples of you stealing creators' content, stealing jokes, and... pic.twitter.com/RsSIrI17ae

— Jacade (@jacksfilms) October 14, 2023