Faze Banks is embroiled in quite the controversy, with a Cleveland bar releasing footage showing that the YouTube star had lied about an alleged assault that took place there last week.
Banks is a popular YouTuber who has amassed a following of more than 4 million subscribers for his gaming videos and vlogs. Last week, the YouTube star uploaded a Snapchat story claiming that he and girlfriend Alissa Violet had been assaulted by the staff of the Barley House, a popular bar in Cleveland. In his account of events, bouncers at the bar had been needlessly violent in throwing Banks and Violet out of the bar, claiming that he had been choked out and that his girlfriend was sexually assaulted by a member of the staff grabbing her backside.
Alissa Violet later posted pictures of injuries to her face, including a swollen eye and fat lip.
Posting a video about this whole situation and explaining everything A-Z as soon as I can. This shit is not ok and we’re going to get to the bottom of it. Love you liss, so sorry this happened 😢 pic.twitter.com/CxXT7iKLzR
— FaZe Banks (@Banks) November 26, 2017
The video prompted a quick and drastic response from fans of FaZe Banks, who took aim at the Barley House. Many of them left angry messages, negative reviews on Yelp and some even took aim at bar employees, leaving threatening messages for them.
FaZe Banks' claims appear to be off
But this week, the Barley House released a video showing its account of events, and it told a drastically different story than what Banks had told fans.
Using surveillance from throughout the bar and outside, the establishment's management showed that Banks and Violet had never been assaulted and that they appeared to be the aggressors in the situation.
In the YouTube video, FaZe Banks could be seen initiating contact with the bouncers, and at no point was he choked out, as he had claimed.
Later in the video, Banks and Violet got into a fight with patrons of the bar outside, with video showing FaZe Banks attempting to throw a glass at the couple and striking a man with a sucker punch.
FaZe Banks responds
FaZe Banks released his own YouTube video in response on Thursday, saying the situation is now being handled by lawyers.
He also called on fans to stop harassing the bar and its employees.
"I do want to stress the point, I do not condone any form of threat, harassment," he said. Don't do it. You guys it's not f***ing cool, it has no place in any of this. We're going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to do it with some class and in a respectful way."
But the internet may already be turning on FaZe Banks and Alissa Violet. On Thursday, the response from the Barley House was one of the top-voted links on the JusticeServed subreddit on Reddit, reaching the link-sharing site's front page. The response was overwhelmingly negative for Banks and Violet, with many commenters saying the bar should sue them for defamation.