The Untold Truth Of Liza Koshy

Before becoming a YouTube superstar, Koshy got her start online on a different now-defunct platform: Vine. Koshy explained to Forbes that she began shooting videos for the app when she was a teenager back in 2013, right after it launched. She said that her first clip for Vine was her climbing on top of a car with her friends, explaining, "It was just me, with my phone, in my car, dancing along, talking or making a really bad joke. Which is why Vine died. Sorry about that." 

In all seriousness, Koshy did well on Vine, and the app helped her hone some of her camera and comedy skills. She began using the app to create six-second skits and gags that helped her grow a large fan base of seven million followers. As she started to become more successful, she realized that she could "talk for much longer than that." Obviously, YouTube seemed to be the best place to go. In July 2015, she started her own YouTube channel and started posting videos on a weekly basis. She called herself "Liza the little brown girl," as an ode to her Indian heritage.

In June 2018, Koshy and fellow YouTube star David Dobrik announced that they had broken up after close to three years together in an emotional and honest video. The couple had never kept their relationship private, and the admission was one that broke the hearts of many fans. They also waited about six months after the breakup to record the video, and as it turns out, there was a legitimate reason why they waited so long.

In an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Koshy explained why they waited, saying they wanted to have plenty of time to heal first and give themselves time to be friends without being romantically involved before they told everyone. She said, "For those six months, we took that time for ourselves to grow, and then to also create, still, together, show the world that you can still be friends." She said they were still working together and still spending time together.

While Koshy tends to keep things light and fun on her YouTube channel, she does occasionally use it to raise awareness for more serious issues, like struggling with anxiety, facing internet bullying and, in a very special interview, encouraging young people to be more politically active. 

To that end, Koshy sat down with none other than former president Barack Obama for a five-minute interview. "Well, because, you know, young people are gonna be the people who make the biggest impact in this country, and this is the way to reach them. And you're doing a great job talking to them about some of the things you guys care about," Obama said to Koshy during the sit-down.

You may be wondering how in the world Koshy has time to squeeze anything else into her already packed schedule. Yet, she has ventured into scripted acting, too. In 2016, she starred as Aday in the Tyler Perry movie Boo! A Madea Halloween. She is currently also starring in Hulu's original supernatural teen series Freakish as Violet Adams. 

"None of us had friends going into this, and then we all came out with friends, so it's great," Koshy joked of the close-knit cast during an interview at New York Comic Con. Fortunately for the new friends, they'll be spending a lot more time together — the series was picked up for a second season, which is currently streaming on Hulu.

One particularly likable trait about Koshy is the fact she keeps it real with her fans — and that includes spilling potentially embarrassing social media mishaps. "Um, there was this one time that I was Snapchatting my bath bomb in the bath tub, and there's that little mirror thing that shows when you, like... like, it like reflects your body. So I was taking a picture; I was just about to upload it when I realized that my breasteses [sic] were in it! It was so bad," she revealed to Clevver News' Jackie Iadonisi, adding of the nearly naked moment, "It was so bad. I never posted it."

It was only a matter of time before Koshy started getting the awards show treatment for her killer content creation skills. At the 2017 Teen Choice Awards, she and fellow YouTube sensation Logan Paul took home surfboard trophies for "Choice Web Star." She has also won two Streamy Awards — for "Breakout Creator" in 2016 and "Comedy" in 2017 — and been nominated for several other awards, including a People's Choice Award and a Shorty Award.

Stick around long enough, and you're bound to hear Koshy give a shout-out to Beyoncé. As it turns out, Koshy is a big fan of her fellow Houston native — so much so, in fact, that she'd love to work with Queen B at some point in the future. During an episode of TRL, co-host DC Young Fly asked Koshy, "Now, if you could make any video with anybody, dead or alive, who would you do it with?" Showing off her quick wit, Koshy playfully quipped back, "Uh, hopefully someone alive." However, she continued to reveal her true dream collab. "Probably Beyoncé," she said. "I gotta give it to the queen. You know, Queen B."

Koshy's success as a YouTube star and television personality landed her a spot on the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, which is a pretty significant accomplishment. Her profile on the Forbes site notes that she has 16.3 million YouTube subscribers and 2.5 billion views — crazy impressive. 

She also appeared in a spread in the magazine, which she took a photo of for her Instagram, followed by a long caption explaining how it made her feel. Koshy said that she was dedicating the honor to her father, "to every email he's read, every call he's answered, every doubt he's reassured, every cry he's soothed and every convo I've zoned out of." Koshy also sent out a huge thank you to all of her fans for supporting her and continuing to watch her, even as she evolved and changed within the industry. She even thanked Forbes for honoring her parent's hard work. 

In 2018, Koshy took a much-needed 10-month break from her main YouTube channel. In January 2019, she returned with a video on her newer channel, Liza Koshy Too, explaining exactly why she needed to step back from the platform. In the video, titled Why I Took A Break, Koshy explained that she had started dealing with some mental health issues and creative burnout. In one clip, she explained that instead of posting about her struggles, she kept them to herself, and she felt it was affecting the kinds of videos she was making. She said, "I don't care about the quantity of videos that I post, I care about the quality. That's why I stopped making them, because I wanted to ensure good content. I lost myself, and I didn't want to document the process." 

While Koshy never went into too much detail, she did say that she had "lost her enthusiasm," explaining that she was faking her happiness a lot, and it didn't feel right anymore. She also said that she was extremely proud about how much work she had done on herself during that time. The break definitely seemed helpful for her.

Towards the end of 2017, Variety reported that Koshy would be starring in a new comedy series for YouTube Red (YouTube's subscription service) called Liza On Demand that would be premiering with eight half-hour episodes in 2018. The show would be about Koshy taking on different odd jobs to become an "elite tasker," and to make her "side hustle" her "real hustle." Even cooler: Koshy would be an executive producer. 

In a statement, she said, "I can't wait to bring #LizaOnDemand to my YouTube audience and hopefully a new audience too." Deadline reported that Liza On Demand would be produced by Above Average, a digital entertainment company founded by Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video, and cast members would include Kimiko Glenn and Travis Coles. By August 2018, Liza On Demand was being called one of the biggest hits on YouTube Red, and her fans were very much on board. Now we're just waiting to hear when the second season will hit. 

You may know Koshy as a YouTube personality, a television host, and a social media star, but did you know she's also the voice of a cartoon character? In November 2018, TubeFilter announced that Koshy would be voicing a character, an owl, in the animated short Crow: The Legend. The short, inspired by an old Native American folktale called Crow and Fire, would be on YouTube and Oculus VR. Koshy was in clearly in very good company: Crow featured the voices of John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Constance Wu, Tye Sheridan, and Diego Luna. According to Variety, the company behind the film, Baobab, partnered with Native Americans in Philanthropy and their CEO Sarah Eagle Heart to work on the film. 

Koshy spoke about the project on her Instagram Stories (via TubeFilter), saying, "I am so happy to partake in sharing this truly beautiful Native American tale of selflessness and sacrifice, and more than proud to promote the inclusion of cultural storytelling." 

In November 2017, Koshy took on a slightly different YouTube role: she became the very first digital star to take part in Vogue's 73 Questions series. The web series, which follows a celebrity walking through their home as they answer rapid-fire questions, was originally parodied by Koshy on her own YouTube channel. Koshy's video, titled 73 Questions with Jet Packinski, featured Koshy as one of her popular characters. The video has over 25 million views, and eventually caught the attention of Vogue. 

Vogue's video featuring Koshy is a little more serious, but still captures the star's energetic and wacky personality. She described her channel as "introvert gone wild," did an impression of Packinski and another personality, joked that the best part of her job is that she can't get fired, and revealed that her real name is Elizabeth. She also said her inspirations growing up were Jim Carey and Raven Symone and said the thing she missed most about her hometown Houston was the food and her family.