E1081 - Going Deeper with Rosanna Pansino

Summary

The Viall Files: Going Deeper with Rosanna Pansino

Episode E1081 | Feb 18, 2026

---

Main Theme & Purpose

In this candid, energetic “Going Deeper” episode, Nick Viall and co-host Natalie Joy sit down with YouTube star, baker, entrepreneur, and OG digital pioneer Rosanna Pansino for a wide-ranging conversation. They dig into Rosanna’s trajectory from Hollywood hopeful to YouTube megastar, the culture clashes between old and new media, the mental health costs of public life, grief and resilience, and the tough realities of the content creator space—including deep dives into tough topics like trauma, controversy, industry accountability, and her clashes with fellow influencers like MrBeast. The episode flows with generous openness, lots of laughter, and memorable life and business lessons.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Neighborhood Vibes, Personalities, Pandemic Lessons

• Time: [02:30]–[06:50]
  • Rosanna discusses the joy of living in a warm, festive neighborhood and being a “professional social butterfly.”
  • The group compares pandemic experiences; Rosanna realized her strong need for human connection versus her partner Mike (“super smart tech nerd”), who thrived in solitude.
  • Quote: “I will talk to a dog... like, how is your day, sweetheart? Oh, you look fabulous.” — Rosanna [05:51]

2. Breaking Into Entertainment, Old Media vs. New Media

• Time: [06:50]–[12:00]
  • Rosanna recounts moving from Seattle to LA, landing small TV roles (including “Cheerio” on Glee), and being caught in the traditional vs. new media tension.
  • Her first agent gave her an ultimatum: stop doing YouTube or be dropped. She chose YouTube, even after being fired.
  • Quote: “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat... you just never give up.” — Rosanna [17:09]

3. Pioneering YouTube, Mentorship, and the Human Side of Online Fame

• Time: [18:05]–[23:30]
  • Rosanna describes early YouTube as a “creative nerd space,” and how new media slowly went mainstream.
  • Credits Susan Wojcicki (former YouTube CEO) as a mentor who “brought me to the table”; talks about the importance of female mentorship and balancing business with values.
  • Sharing on grief: after losing her father, Rosanna kept working, but the “lighthouse lost the light.” Now, as she heals, her passion is coming back.
  • Quote: “The channel’s starting to reflect that... I feel like the light is back in the lighthouse.” — Rosanna [23:07]

4. Creativity, Purpose, and Honest Advice for Aspiring Creators

• Time: [26:03]–[32:18]
  • Rosanna reflects on the phenomenon of kids aspiring to be YouTubers. Her advice is to pursue passion and creativity over fame.
  • Quote: “For the people who say, ‘I want to be a YouTube star,’ there’s almost like a follow up question—what do you want to do to become the star?” — Nick [28:49]
  • She recounts creating Geeky Baking (YouTube’s first “geeky baking show”) after viewer feedback—community response validated the direction.

5. Algorithm Evolution & The Business of YouTube

• Time: [32:18]–[34:29]
  • She explains, in playful detail, the evolution of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm (“I call it Al. Al likes and dislikes, Al has opinions.”).
  • Learning and adapting through direct conversations with YouTube execs and relentless testing.

6. Culinary Journey & Navigating Credibility

• Time: [37:02]–[42:57]
  • Rosanna addresses skepticism from culinary professionals about her lack of formal training; she hired a Cordon Bleu chef as a producer, learned the science behind family recipes, and values the credibility she built with self-taught expertise.
  • Quote: “Everything my grandma taught me was what they're teaching at the fancy bakery.” — Rosanna [40:20]
  • Fun stories of baking disasters (e.g., a failed Sonic the Hedgehog cake, chocolate mishaps [44:00–44:11])

7. Work-Life Balance, Social Life, and Boundaries

• Time: [52:47]–[55:10]
  • Rosanna is pro-socialization, fills her life with social events, family time, and is open about her energetic “dog” personality versus her partner’s “cat” tendencies.

8. The Parasocial Dilemma and Genuine Presence vs. Vlogging

• Time: [54:09]–[58:18]
  • Admits she’s “awful” at vlogging because she forgets to film while present with friends; values real experiences over content.
  • Quote: “I wish I could be a vlogger, but... I forget to film. I'm so in the moment.” — Rosanna [54:15]
  • Nick and Natalie relate, noting content creation can turn experiences into work.

9. Being Public, Dealing with Loss, Internet Response & Haters

• Time: [62:57]–[72:09]
  • Rosanna describes how she honored her father’s wishes—growing and smoking a cannabis plant with his ashes, facing nasty online reactions and disinformation from other influencers.
  • She distinguishes between haters and constructive criticism, using feedback to improve her own work, and reinforces emotional boundaries.
  • Quote: “Thank you to all my haters, because I listened to every single word and used it to improve…” — Rosanna [65:46]
  • On internet drama: “The Internet is always gonna Internet.” [68:00]

10. On Speaking Up, Controversy, Accountability, & MrBeast

• Time: [75:07]–[96:47]
  • Rosanna discusses her willingness to speak out against powerful creators, notably MrBeast—citing personal mistreatment and problematic patterns in his business.
  • She shares concerns about money & power as dangerous motivators, the risks of influencer “untouchability,” and describes the difference between “cancelled” (by community) and “outcasted” (by the industry).
  • Quotes:
    • “I think he's an extremely dangerous person. I wish more people knew who he was behind the camera.” — Rosanna [94:18]
    • “Fear should never stop any person from doing what's right. I truly believe that.” — Rosanna [99:03]
    • “There are ways to make money and be successful and not hurt other people. And that’s where I draw the line.” — Rosanna [79:38]

11. Integrity in the Creator Economy & Industry Wisdom

• Time: [104:59]–[107:53]
  • Rosanna explains how she resisted the pressure to chase viral moments at any cost—“Just don’t be an asshole”—citing examples of creators who found success with integrity.
  • On growth and mistakes: Grace is “important because we all make mistakes... but I’ve seen people who learn just to hide things, not fix them.”

12. Personal Growth, Resilience, and Empathy

• Time: [109:16]–[113:29]
  • She reflects on the importance of empathy for creators who aren’t in a position to speak up, the loneliness of being outcasted, and expanding her own social circle beyond YouTube.
  • Pride in helping pioneer mainstream acceptance for digital creators: “Now it’s all coming together... this is an exciting time.” [113:29]

13. Live Streaming & Mental Health, Platform Responsibility

• Time: [116:17]–[123:01]
  • Rosanna warns about the safety and mental health risks of live streaming—dangerous for most, unless you’re a “certain personality type.”
  • Cites swatting stories, calls for better safety policies and enforcement by platform leaders, especially to protect children.
  • Quote: “Souls will always push the limits for money and power... what would help are leaders who actually enforce their policies.” — Rosanna [120:54]
  • On creator desperation: “There’s so many paths to success... I feel sad for people who choose those kind of paths because it’s just miserable.” [122:09]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On career resilience:
  “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat... you just never give up.” — Rosanna [17:09]

• On haters and improvement:
  “Thank you to all my haters, because I listened to every single word and used it to improve…” — Rosanna [65:46]

• On the value of presence vs. content:
  “I wish I could be a vlogger, but... I forget to film. I'm so in the moment.” — Rosanna [54:15]

• On calling out industry behavior:
  “There are ways to make money and be successful and not hurt other people. And that’s where I draw the line.” — Rosanna [79:38]

• On MrBeast’s influence:
  “I think he’s an extremely dangerous person. I wish more people knew who he was behind the camera.” — Rosanna [94:18]

• On fear and doing the right thing:
  “Fear should never stop any person from doing what's right. I truly believe that.” — Rosanna [99:03]

• Random science fact:
  “Wombats poop squares.” — Rosanna [62:09]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pandemic Socialization & Personality Contrasts: [02:30]–[06:50]
• Early YouTube vs. Traditional Hollywood, Agency Ultimatum: [06:50]–[12:00]
• Mentorship from Susan Wojcicki, Processing Loss: [18:05]–[23:30]
• Advice for Young Content Creators: [26:03]–[32:18]
• Algorithm & Platform Adaptation: [32:18]–[34:29]
• Recipe Fails & Growth as a Baker: [42:40]–[44:11]
• Grief, Internet Backlash, Setting Boundaries: [62:57]–[72:09]
• Calling Out MrBeast & Industry Accountability: [75:07]–[96:47]
• Creators’ Integrity vs. Algorithm Pressures: [104:59]–[107:53]
• Industry Outcasting and Personal Empathy: [109:16]–[113:29]
• Live Streaming Risks & Platform Responsibility: [116:17]–[123:01]

---

Tone & Overall Vibe

• Rosanna is honest, witty, and generous—incredibly open about her setbacks, trauma healing, and proud of her resilience. Her tone moves from deeply personal (discussing therapy, loss, and internet judgment) to fiercely protective, especially in championing ethical creator conduct and calling out bad actors.
• Nick and Natalie are warm, supportive, and inquisitive, matching Rosanna’s directness with empathy and humor.

---

Closing & Callbacks

• The show ends with mutual appreciation and an invitation for Rosanna to return for an “Ask Nick” advice episode.
• Memorable Sign-off:
  “You truly have pioneered your way... you are a stand-up woman, boss-ass bitch. I am very grateful to have met you.” — Natalie [124:17]
  • To which Rosanna, beaming:
    “Oh my gosh. I’m literally turning red now. That was great.” [124:30]

---

This conversation is instructive, heartfelt, and timely—a must-listen for anyone interested in the realities of digital fame, the rapid cultural shift in entertainment, or seeking wisdom on resilience, boundaries, and personal growth in the public eye.

Transcript

[Nick Viall]

There's side sleepers, back sleepers, even starfishes. Anyway, it doesn't matter what kind of sleeper you are.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I have the perfect pillow for you. It's changed my life and it will change yours. I've been very very particular about pillows my whole life.

[Nick Viall]

So much so that I hung on.

[Rosanna Pansino]

To a pillow that worked for me for about nine years.

[Nick Viall]

It got really yucky and gross. Well, no longer do you need to do that because Coop Sleep Goods pillow is an absolute game changer. It's a cooler on every side of the pillow. It has the ability to adjust firmness so you can make it stiffer, softer, whatever your preferences are.

[Rosanna Pansino]

But it is an absolutely incredible pillow that will change the sleep that you are getting.

[Nick Viall]

Free pillow consultations with their sleep experts to optimize your sleep get 100 night sleep trial. So just try it for a hundred nights. If you're not absolutely obsessed with it, you can get a full refund. 86% of sleepers reported better sleep after switching their pillows to coop. 100,000 5 star reviews and over a million happy sleepers. Again, you can add or remove the fill in the pillow to create the absolute perfect pillow for you. Natalie and I both have a perfect pillow and they're different pillows.

[Rosanna Pansino]

See, not every perfect is the same.

[Natalie]

We also trust Coop Sleep Goods so much that we use their toddler pillow forever in her crib and she also sleeps wonderfully.

[Nick Viall]

So let Coop help you show up feeling rejuvenated and ready to go. Get 20% off your first order and try coop risk free with 100 nights sleep better guarantee at coopsleepgoods.com v I a l l that's c o o.

[Rosanna Pansino]

P sleepgoods.com v I a L l.

[Nick Viall]

The val files is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing a budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Prices and coverage match limited by state law.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Not available in all states.

[Nick Viall]

Don't forget Vile Files. Plus now offers ad free episodes for all Vile Files episodes including Ask Nick Reality Recap and Going Deeper. Plus, if you love Ask Nick, you will absolutely love our Ask Nick updates where you get updates of your favorite calls, our Deep dive on all your favorite reality recap TV shows and our pop culture roundup where we talk about all your favorite pop culture topics that we didn't get to in this week's episode. Plus Deep Dives on our Going Deeper guest and so much more. All you have to do is go.

[Rosanna Pansino]

To Vile Files plus and you will be lucky you did.

You're crazy. Oh, my gosh, you guys, I'm so excited we're doing this. I was just saying, we live so close.

[Nick Viall]

You're closer to our old studio.

[Rosanna Pansino]

It's such a good neighborhood, you guys. Just a couple blocks over. For Halloween, they shut down the whole street. Like, they block it off, and it looks like, out of a movie. Like a Disney movie. All, like, all the houses participate. All the houses decorate. They hire, like, actors to be, like, ghosts. And it is so cute. So if you were. If you. For Halloween, trick or treating with the kids is the cutest effing thing you have ever seen. Like, a local, really cute place.

We.

[Natalie]

I feel like our first year with our daughter, it was. We were like.

[Nick Viall]

We didn't really know where to go.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Is every.

[Natalie]

Like, we, like, went out on our street and it was, like, silent. There was nobody out. The doors were all, like. Lights were off. People were like, don't ring our doorbell.

[Rosanna Pansino]

We're watching a movie. No. Yeah.

[Natalie]

I was like, this is kind of sad. Like, the first time we get to, like, actually take our daughter trick or treating and, like, see, I feel like.

[Rosanna Pansino]

We should have met sooner and hung out. And I can tell you all the cute spots because I'm literally a social butterfly. That's all I do are, other than just being a YouTuber. I'm a professional social butterfly.

[Natalie]

God, I wish I could be more like you.

[Rosanna Pansino]

It's really fun for me. I love people. So I just always been talking to everyone.

[Natalie]

I feel like I was like that, too, until I moved to la.

[Rosanna Pansino]

And then I was like, she married me. And I'm. I'm not a people person. I'm a cat. Yeah.

[Natalie]

So then I'm like, if I have.

[Rosanna Pansino]

To talk to them by myself, I'm definitely a cat.

[Natalie]

I'm not gonna talk to them at all.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I'm a dog. So cats and dogs can get along.

[Nick Viall]

Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah. It is possible.

And sometimes cats want to be like, dogs.

Right? Right. I wish I could control myself and be more like a cat, but I'm. I'm just. So what is Mike? He is a social introvert.

[Natalie]

Okay.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I would say Mike's just, like, a super smart tech nerd. Like, he built his first computer from scratch when he was 10. Oh, my God. Like, he would get all the parts from Fry's and, like, build his own motherboard. And, like, that was his first gift. To me, actually, when we were dating is he built me a high powered rig from scratch. Cause he was like, your shit is so slow. I can't stand this. Like, so he built me a high powered rig so we could like, edit process, like, so fast.

Like, if I try to put something from IKEA together, she will call it a TaskRabbit.

Yeah.

[Natalie]

I'm like, we have curtains to hang. I'm like, I'll just.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Don't worry about it. I'll just. You don't need to hang the curtains. Mike's like a handyman and tech nerd and. But he really literally could play video games by himself in his office for life. Like, during COVID he had no problems. During COVID he was calm, cool collective.

[Nick Viall]

The first month of COVID I was.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Living my best life. And then I was like, I'm. This is getting problematic for.

That was exactly that. Mike was like, so chill the entire time. And I was like, michael, we gotta get out. Talk to me. And that's when I learned, like, wait, I might be way more social than him. Cause I definitely was having like the huge cabin fever.

Yeah.

Like, I will talk to a dog. Like, I was talking to our dogs. I was like. I was like, how is your day going, sweetheart? Oh, you look fabulous.

[Natalie]

Like, we haven't also left the house. We're also really bored, so it's like.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I need to get out. Like, this is embarrassing.

Yeah.

[Natalie]

And here we are.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You made it. Welcome.

Thanks for having me.

We're very excited to have you.

I am so excited. I've seen this green wall.

You have for.

Yeah, like, forever. I've been watching so many of your interviews. I love JoJo. She's just one of my absolute favorites. When she came on, I just. I watched every. Every second because I love to support her and just that's, I think, actually how I learned about your guys's podcast. Yeah, I'm such. In like a little baking bubble. I'm extremely social. I go out and meet friends, but it's like, that's the bubble. I don't really go outside of that. It's like whatever I run into is the bubble.

And that makes a lot of sense. I mean, we. I'm very fascinated to have this conversation with you and get to know you a little bit better. There are so many people in this office who are huge fans of you, who described to have a parasocial relationship.

[Natalie]

With you that they're trying to reel.

[Rosanna Pansino]

In, raised by you.

[Nick Viall]

And it's really fascinating.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I am someone I'm 45 years old. So I was a child before YouTube.

Yeah.

And so when YouTube kind of came out, I was not one of those people, unlike my wife who has, like, I was raised by YouTube in a way, or they follow a lot of different creators. And it's really been a fascinating thing to watch, especially for me, when I kind of came up in the public eye. You're someone who's one of the biggest creators on YouTube. Millions and millions of followers. And at the same time, it almost feels like it's. For a long time, YouTube was like its own kind of universe, and then there was like this kind of mainstream universe. And now these worlds are really starting to collide in a massive way and it's really just fascinating. And yeah, I'm just really have so many questions for you.

I love it. I have dreamed of this day for decades. I have been telling my agents for decades that this was going to happen. And with my first agency, when I first moved to California from Seattle, I went to college in Seattle, grew up in Seattle, and then moved here for entertainment work. And I was telling my first agency, who I won't name because I don't want to throw them shade, but I will be honest and say that they gave me an ultimatum and they said, like, if you don't stop making YouTube videos, we're going to drop you as a client. Because it was when new media was emerging and there was this tension between traditional media and new media, and I think they were kind of scared of each other and they didn't know what this meant for the future. So there was, like, hard lines being drawn. And I was given an ultimatum at my agency, and I was just so terrified because these were the only people that believed in me in entertainment other than Mike. Like, these. That was my agent. Like, that was my person who was cheering me on, was like, you got this. And when they gave me the ultimatum, it just felt like a punch in the stomach. And I begged with them. I was like, please see the value in YouTube and new media. Because the only Sony commercial I booked that year was because of my YouTube channel.

[Nick Viall]

So, like, your first taste of that.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You felt like the success you had and you finally felt like you found your thing, which I think anyone in this space and entertainment can relate to. Like, when I got off the Bachelor, I go on Dancing with the Stars, and then you're just kind of like, what do I do next? You know, and there's no one. People aren't really knocking on your door. You have opportunities and things like that you're just like, I don't know what to do next. And you really find your thing. We joke all the time. When I met Natalie.

Yeah.

I was. I asked her to like, film me making roller skating videos, which is really embarrassing when I look at it now.

Like. Like shooting the duck. Like you're doing little tricks. Yeah. In Venice.

Yeah. When we met, I lived in Venice and roller skating, like many things during COVID Yeah. Would like pop up. And I grew up roller skating and I have roller skates and so I busted them out and I'm. I was like shockingly good at it. Like, most people didn't imagine this like, middle aged white guy would be pretty.

Good on a roller skate.

It was like a nice little bit. And. But I remember when I started, when I. When I started this show before I met Natalie and up into that point, it was a lot of like, you know, again, roller skating videos. I was doing shirtless Bob Ross paintings.

[Natalie]

I was just cooking videos, trying.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Cooking videos, just like trying to find my thing. And then I found my thing and I couldn't find my. Tell you, just the. The weight, like just. It was like I finally found the thing. It's like, found a home. I have a job. You know, I quit my real job. I was selling software. I took this risk. I would go to bed at night being like, what the fuck am I doing? You know, where I can't do this forever. This being like the occasional appearance, the random like, you know, social media campaign, that was good money, but it was like.

Home based.

[Nick Viall]

So here you are, very similar.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You found your thing. Then like you said, the people who like you, count on you, rely on to who know this world were being like, you got to quit.

Yeah, it was rough. I just begged with them. I was like, please see it as a tool. Like, this is. It's a great thing. I think there's synergy. Like, I think this is going to come together in the future. And they just didn't have that foresight. So two weeks later, I got a letter, typed letter in the mail dumping me.

They fired you?

Yeah.

[Natalie]

Do you feel like had they not given you that ultimatum, your life would be very different? Or do you feel like you always would have found your way there?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Because I was working in the traditional space. Like, the first two years that I moved here, I was a union dancer, an actress, just a Cheerio cheerleader, very small role on Glee. I worked on the show for two seasons, but I was there with crew. I was there Monday through Friday. I was grinding I worked on the show so much. Like, I, you know, I qualified for all the medical benefits that SAG actors qualify. It wasn't like a glamorous role, but like, I was a full time working actress. Like, I wasn't also waiting tables. Like, this was my full time gig and I was learning a lot. I'm glad I stepped back from Glee. There was a lot of stuff that happened there that hopefully eventually I'll be able to talk about. But I think right now I'm just like, not ready yet. I just started working with a trauma therapist. A therapist who specializes in trauma. Like, oh, my God, like five months ago, six months ago. Mike. How many months has it been? But it's been great.

[Natalie]

I went through that.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah.

Like four months. Yeah. I'm feeling more stronger and more.

Was there something specific that happened again, only at your comfort level that made you go, I need this type of therapy?

Yeah. There was a huge shift just over the years in entertainment. Basically. A couple. Me too. Things happened to me that I've just been holding onto for a really long time. Cause I'm Italian and Irish and on my dad's side, I'm such my dad's daughter. If there's ever issues, we would just have a shot of whiskey and just shove those feelings down. That's how we deal with things. And so I've been doing that for over two decades. And it turns out that trauma tank gets full. It turns out there is a limit. Like, everyone has that breaking point. And I think I hit mine a couple years ago. And I just really. I don't know, part of it, it's like getting older, but it's just like, I just don't have the tolerance for as much bullshit anymore. I'm old. I don't have time for the nonsense. I'm just. And it's also feeling more comfortable to deal with stuff that happened when I was young and so many more years ago that I didn't know how to process.

[Natalie]

And I went through emdr trauma therapy.

[Rosanna Pansino]

That's what we're gon.

[Natalie]

It's incredible. And it is. Yeah. It is worth every ounce of your time and money.

[Rosanna Pansino]

It is.

[Natalie]

It is. Truly. Yeah. I recommend it to anyone who has been through any type of trauma. It is truly a miracle. Save me.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah, it's. It's really been helping so far. And I've never been in therapy before, ever. And I'm so glad that I decided to do it because it's. It's helping me process.

[Natalie]

Absolutely.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah.

[Natalie]

Yeah, it will. It's what it did for me too. I had never been in any sort of therapy either. I had like, I had one session with a therapist and it was awful. And I was like, I will never do that again. And then Nick encouraged me. He was like, I think maybe you should try this. Let me know. And she recommended the emdr. And it is truly life changing. So if you're in that, you're in good hands. Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I'm so excited. Yeah, I can't wait. I feel like I'm be a new woman. I feel like it's going to help a lot. I feel like I'm pretty resilient with things, but it definitely had to get dealt with at some point. Yeah.

Well, good for you for being able to tackle that because it can be very intimidating.

Yeah, I think it's a really good thing. I left Glee. I left after season two. They asked me to come back for season three, and that's when I stepped away and started YouTube. Kind of dived in full time to YouTube. And if I hadn't got that ultimatum, I don't know if I would have made that decision just because I loved making YouTube videos so much and I was hardly making any money at it. But I knew that it was possible because it just started to monetize then and I was like, I know this is possible and I don't want to give it up. And I really see this as being a wave of distribution in the future. Like, I see that. So I'm glad that I kind of followed those rules.

What was that initial feeling that you felt when you got that letter?

I mean, oh my God.

Like, and I guess I'm more curious about how you bounced back because it can be. I feel like most people, and I think I'm resilient and all that fun stuff, but like, usually there's that panic of like, oh my God. No, no.

[Nick Viall]

I'm so sorry.

[Natalie]

Like, you changed.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Did you, did you think of calling him up? You were pretty committed.

No, I did try to set up a few lunch dates just to talk.

Sure.

I think I'm pretty level headed in that way. I really like long term relationships. Like Mike and I have been together for over 10 years, I think. Like, Mike, 15 years, something like that.

Yeah.

Yeah. My, my new agents, we've been together for over 13 years or something. It's just like kind of who I am. So with those relationships, whether they're business or professional, I really do make an effort to like resolve things. I think that that's just where I don't like to cut things off because of a flub or like a disagreement or. I just, I don't see the benefit in that. So I really. I fought for it. Yeah. By reaching out and trying to. And they could not see the light. So I was like, woof. You know, I had a shot of whiskey. That's how I dealt with it. I was like, fuck it, have a shot of whiskey. And there's this great quote by. It's the four star general Mad Dog Jim. He. My dad grew up with him. My dad was born in Kansas and he was in Eagle Scouts with him. And he has this great quote and I remind myself of it all the time. It's so funny because I'm dyslexic and I literally. I keep it on my phone. Cause it helps me anytime. I literally have to keep it here. His quote is, marines don't know how to spell the word defeat. I was like, marines don't. And I don't because I'm dyslexic. But also, you just never give up. So even when you hit the worst roadblocks, I'm like, nope, just keep going.

Well, here you are now, I don't know how many years later you are one of the top earners on YouTube. You are recognized by. By Forbes as. Was it one of the top or the top earner on YouTube? Yeah. Highest paid. Yeah. It recently got announced that you have a new deal with Fox, part of. Can you give us a little insight on what that is? I know Gordon Ramsay's involved.

Yeah. He built a huge brand with them. Like an entire basically internal Food Network of food shows. And I aspire to do the same thing. I really love making things, I love creating things, I love producing things. I think I learned that, I love that just from YouTube. But I got some opportunities along the way to host a few Food Network shows and be an executive producer of an HBO show that aired. And it just performed well. So I got. I kind of. I think I got the itch where I like to produce. And I think something I like about it a lot is I get to feature other people's talent. And as I'm getting older, that's something I enjoy almost more than showing my own. I think that that's something I'm leaning into and it's just, just.

[Natalie]

So was there anyone that gave that to you when you were coming up?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Susan. Yeah. The former CEO of YouTube. Oh, wow. She was. I admired her so much. She was like a mentor to me. And it was so random and I Don't know why she picked me out of obscurity. I was just making my little baking channel. It was performing well, doing its thing. I didn't know one soul at YouTube. I didn't know anybody from their team. I didn't know anything. And I literally got an email and they're like, hey, we need a meeting in person. Can't talk over email or the phone. Come on in, in person.

And like, oh my God, what did I do?

I was freaking out. I was like telling Mike. I was like, am I getting fired?

[Nick Viall]

Can they do that?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Like, what, what? And we went in and they asked if I'd like to be a part of this project that they were launching, Project Beacon, where they took three creators. I was in the first round with Michelle Phan and Bethany Mota, where they basically put so much money into us Advertisement dollar wise. And basically they really wanted to feature creators on YouTube to show that YouTube wasn't just silly cat videos, that they're like makeup gurus. There are the next Rachael Ray's here. There are the next fashionistas here. There's so much talent here. It's not just silly little random video hosting site. It's really evolved into an entertainment platform. And so we, I took months of my life. We went on tour, basically we went to New York. We went, like, talked to journalists and educated them about YouTube. And it just changed my life. Susan changed my life. She brought me to the table. Like, she gave me a seat at the table. She let my voice be heard. She included me in things I would have never been in the room for. And she was, was like my light. Running a company that size is not easy. Like, there's always going to be issues. Nothing's going to be perfect. But she was really a person who balanced ethics and values and morals of business. And I just, I respected her for it so much. Like, she cares about the numbers. They're important, they matter. But she also cared about people. She loved people. She loved the creators. She really fought for them. She swang. And I just, I miss that feeling all the time, especially with the new leadership. Like, I just miss it.

[Natalie]

Is there a trait or characteristic that you feel like she instilled in you that you like, see in yourself today?

[Rosanna Pansino]

I think a lot of love. She was truly a light. And that's something that she called me a lighthouse. I was her lighthouse and I called her my light. And it was really weird, I think about five or six years ago when I lost my dad, because I feel like the lighthouse Lost the light. I think that was the weirdest part of my career, was when I just was grieving so much and struggling with grief so much and then still continuing to move forward and press on. And it was just like too much. Like, that was where I was kind of on autopilot. Like, I'm still making content. We didn't miss a video upload in 13 years. But it's just like my heart is not there because it is breaking into a thousand pieces. Like, that's kind of. I think that's something that I reflect on now, and I don't think there's anything I could have done different. Grief is a monster all of its own that you cannot control. It does its own thing in its own time, and I don't regret anything. But now it's just very different. Like, that heavy feeling has lifted and now I'm starting to enjoy the memories of my dad more. And it just feels like I'm in a different place. And the channel's starting to reflect that just kind of organically and naturally. Like, it's. I think we had our best year in like, probably five years. Just this last year. Like, it's coming back. Passion's coming back, joy and happiness. I feel like the light is back in the lighthouse. Like, I think Susan would have been. Been really happy. I think she would have been really proud.

That's beautiful.

Yeah.

[Nick Viall]

Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You mean just having you talk a little bit. I have so many more questions. I'm also dyslexic, by the way, so safe space. You can't spell. And so in my brain I have all these, like, how do I want to tackle this conversation? But hearing you talk about the beginning of your career, you really were there in the beginning. And just hearing you talk about your new leadership, it's kind of a very like a tales all the time. This time with a company where kind of that startup mentality. I know. I'm sure YouTube was still relatively large back then, but compared to what it is now owned by Google, this kind of behemoth of a company. And no matter what company you're at, the large you get, the less personal it becomes. And so you really have such an interesting perspective of this world now that YouTube, it really is. Feels like it's taking over entertainment, you know, and things like that. And so, yeah, you have. I. I'm just so fascinated by your perspective on so many things. I guess starting with. I think one thing you're seeing. We're. We're young parents, right? And so we have our daughter now. So a lot of our things we look at is through that lens, you know, of what's the world gonna be like for our daughter. And I'm sure you've seen this, but, like, you ask young kids today, what do they want to be when they grow up? And YouTubers is number one. And I'm just curious, like, what your perspective is on that. Obviously, this world has changed your life and opened up so many beautiful doors, but as I'm sure you know, that that experience isn't the same for everyone who tries. And for one of you, millions of people who just, you know, maybe had some fun, but it didn't have the level of success that you have. And obviously there's been a lot of other creators in this space who have come and gone, been wrapped up in controversy. There are some, you know, very dark stories about how the world having access to your life has affected you. And I'm just curious, like, how you have reflected on your career. And when you see, you know, that. That kids want to be YouTube stars, I'm sure there's a sense of pride that you feel. But also, is there any part of reluctance of, like, oh, well, I don't know if, you know, what would you tell your younger self? Or if you have a friend, like, we become friends, and you're like, oh, river wants to be a YouTube star.

[Nick Viall]

What would you say to her?

[Rosanna Pansino]

You know, oh, my gosh, that's deep. Okay. Yeah. I feel like YouTube didn't even exist when I was in high school. Right. So it's not like growing up, I can really understand how kids feel these days of, like, it even being, like, desired field. And even when YouTube started, it didn't even monetize. Like, the people that I knew who were creating content on YouTube just loved it because it was a free video hosting site, and they were just doing it for fun, like, as a creative outlet to just get their creativity out there. And just being a free video hosting site is crazy valuable all in itself. Like, that's amazing, but I could nerd out on that all day. But now it is so different, and. And I really can't imagine what kids feel like and why. And I think it's so different. Like, growing up, I would watch television and movies, and I always wanted to be a part of creating things, like, artistically like that, or I'd hear music on the radio. And I didn't know what I wanted to do in entertainment, but I knew I'm so creative. I just wanted to make stuff like, whether I'm making TV shows or I'm making cookbooks, or I'm developing recipes. I just want to create stuff. The entertainment space is the perfect place for that. And it seems like YouTube is a place so I could see for young kids, no matter what their interest is, if they're a creative type, this is a great space because there's so many possibilities. There's podcasts, there's live streamers, there's gamers, there's crafters, there's. I was watching a channel where they like whittle ice. They're ice whittlers. They like carve ice. Like this is their job and their whole channel's about that and that's their business. I, I mean they're like ice sculpturists, but then they also make content on it and I'm like, craftsmanship. It's all the creative types under one house. So it's such a weird kind of place because I think it depends on the kid. Like, what do they want? Do they want fame? Just for fame, just clout chasing? Do they want to be a baker? Do they want to have meaningful conversations and host like a great podcast? Like, what do they want out of entertainment and creativity? And that's what I would tell kids, especially I have little nephews who are growing up if they ever want to get in entertainment, like, what are their interests, what are their passions? And to lean into those, because I think that's where then when you flourish. And then I think it also helps you not get caught up in all of the other stuff, because there's a lot of other stuff now here that just like didn't exist when I started on YouTube because everyone who started on YouTube were just like creative nerds. They really were not in it for fame or money because those things weren't possible.

Well, that makes a lot of sense because it's basically what you're saying. For the people who say, oh, I want to be a YouTube star, there's almost like a follow up question in terms of like, what do you want to do to become the star? Like YouTube's just the platform that you put your art on or whatever you're inspired by that you want to do, as opposed to just saying, well, I want to, like, I want to be on tv, you know, like, do you want to host, do you want to act, do you want to be a journalist? You know, whatever, Try it all.

That's also great advice. Try everything. That's what I did in college. I tried so many weird jobs. I've taken so many oddball jobs over the years. That's my biggest advice to kids too, is like, just not even kids, just students. If you're in college, try everything and see what you love, see what you don't, because you might surprise yourself. Like, I went to nursing school. When I was in college, I started the nursing program and I loved it. I loved all of it. I just could not complete some of the labs as quick as I should have. And that doesn't do a benefit to anybody. So I learned kind of right away that that wasn't a great fit for me. But I just tried everything. Because if you try and explore, you might think that you would love doing something, but you don't. Yeah.

[Natalie]

At what point in your YouTube career were you like, oh, my God, I think this is actually like becoming something.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I think it's like a thing. It was when the community basically gave me this huge response. Like I was uploading vlogs just to get more comfortable on camera, and they were pretty boring. And then I uploaded a geeky baking video. We were preparing for friends. We have a bunch of gamer friends who were coming over for like E3, and we were throwing like a pre E3 barbecue at our house. And I thought, well, let's just film making this cake. So I did. And then the community was like, this is amazing. No geeky baking show exists online or on television. Like, we need more of this. And I was like, okay, you guys, what do you want to see next week? Because that was about as quickly as I could edit. Took me a week to edit a video and it was terrible. I was using comic sans font, the whole thing. It was awful. Don't watch my first videos. They're actually awful. But I would try to do that. And every week they'd be like, we want to see like a hyrule shield from Zelda. We want to see this. So I would just every week try to, you know, make new things. And then it turned into a geeky baking show. The first geeky baking show. And it was amazing. I am so blessed and grateful for the eight years that it ran. And literally during that time, the algorithm also supported educational content, tutorial based content. So that was when it just flourished and then when the algorithm changed because it's always growing in lines of code. It has billions and billions of lines of code. Now it's a much more complicated algorithm. So I tell people it's not just making content you're passionate about, but you also have to be feeding the algorithm, meaning you have to hit certain metrics at certain points. Like, there's certain metrics the algorithm looks for. Like, right when you upload within, like the first, you know, seven seconds, 10 seconds, it has to hit certain metrics. If it doesn't hit those metrics, they won't even. The video won't even be shot out to your own community and following. So that's where I had to learn. Hey, it's about what you love and passion, but also about the numbers. So that's that balance that I would say content creators need to do nowadays that you didn't have to do in the beginning. Because in the beginning, I call ow. The algorithm. It was just a baby. It was like four lines of code. Little boo Boo, you know, like, it was just Al is sleep and poop.

Yeah.

All you guys know kids. So it's just like little Al is just this little baby. And so if your channel got popular, it was because the people chose you. You were chosen by the people. People would share your videos. People would share with their friends. They would naturally, organically share it. And you were organically popular, like the People's Choice Awards. That's what it used to be like. Now that Al is. Is a full adult. Al is billions and billions of lines. Al is its own person. That's why I call him Al, because Al has likes and dislikes. Al has likes for your video and dislikes for your video. Al likes a certain thumbnail over another thumbnail. Al has opinions.

[Natalie]

This must have been. How did you learn all of that? Was it like a bunch of trial and error, or was Susan there to help? You know, like how. That must have just been everything. All of it.

[Rosanna Pansino]

It was everything. So I will say that. But having access to having a seat at the table. I got to talk to top executives at YouTube and even the programmer who writes Al. He basically is the creator of Al. Al's dad got to sit down, have a dinner with him and ask him all the questions. And his daughter, who's lovely, love her, we had a fabulous dinner. It's that and a lot of trial and error. Like, a lot of testing. Kind of like I test recipes. Like, I'll test a recipe like 16 times, add a little bit more sugar. Sugar. Okay. No. A little bit more butter. Okay. No, no. It's just like that. It's just being a nerd and testing and playing and seeing what is performing better, what isn't, what's working, what isn't, and then why. And just what I love about YouTube is on the back end they provide so much analytics, which other platforms don't. And I love that they give us access because for the super nerds who you want to like, like function differently, you can, you, you dive into those analytics and you can figure it out. It's amazing. But yeah, it's kind of holistic. It's us testing it and also having the ability to talk to some of the big executives. The biggest thing is they keep a lot of things close to the chest. There's some things that they, you know, can't say and. But what they have said is now Al is a monster all of his own.

[Natalie]

So we're all scared of Al.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah. Yeah.

Don't piss off Al.

[Nick Viall]

The new year is here. So get back into an at home routine you love and elevate your space with Wayfair. From bedding to mattresses to smart storage for every room, Wayfair is your one stop shop. Refresh your living room with accent pillows, mirrors and faux plants. All for less. We always rely on Wayfair. Now you get some great pillows. So many decorative pieces both at the lake and at home. Also our office space, they really have it all. I mean you can get trampolines, you can get pizza ovens at Wayfair. It really is amazing. Everything that Wayfair has to offer must haves for gu like bedding, mattresses, towels, kids, room refresh and get them on track this year the home decor there is amazing. Finally have a big garage and I got a bunch of like storage containers from Wayfair that are game changing so I can stay organized in the garage. A huge selection of home goods ranging from appliances to area rugs to beds and wall art. It really is like think of anything for your house or outdoor space or offers and chances are Wayfair has you come covered. Get organized, refresh and back on track this year for way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, Every home Built is a rewards program for renters who want to get more out of where they live. Whether that's through travel, dining or neighborhood perks. It's perfect for anyone who's paying rent and wants to turn their largest monthly expense into opportunities for experiences. It's 2026 and if you're still paying rent without built, it's time for a change. Built is a loyalty program for renters that rewards you for the biggest monthly expense. That's rent with Built. Every rent payment earns you points that can be used towards flights, hotels, lift rides, Amazon.com purchases, and so much more. And here's something that's really exciting. Now Built members can earn points on mortgage payments for the first time. That means you can get rewards wherever you live and unlock exclusive benefits from more than 45,000 restaurants, fitness studios, pharmacies and other neighborhood partners. Firstly, we use Built and redeem for Amazon points. It's simple. Paying rent is better with Built. And now owning a home can be better with Built to earn rewards and get something back wherever you live. Join the loyalty program for renters@join built.com v I a l l that is join built j d O-I-N b I.

[Rosanna Pansino]

L t.com v I a l l.

[Nick Viall]

Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.

[Rosanna Pansino]

When you started cooking and baking on YouTube, you didn't come from, like, a, A, like traditional, like, cooking education or culinary school or anything like that.

No, I went to college. I graduated from PLU Pacific Lutheran University with a degree in communication, emphasis in journalism, and then a minor in business. But growing up just my whole life, been baking. It's been a hobby my whole life. My grandma baked. She's a dual citizen. My mom is a dual citizen in US and Italy. And they're just little Italian people, bakers. This is just how we. This is how we communicate. This is what we do.

And I, you know, I feel like cooking kind of to your point. You know, I love to cook, right? I mean, I'm not a baker. I love to cook. Certainly have no, like, education or degree in it. I do feel like cooking's kind of been accepted in the sense that, like, your grandma has her, like, homemade cookie recipe and she comes from a level expertise. But the reason I asked that is because I'm curious what your experience was like coming from the reality TV space and kind of trying out entertainment. I always say, have this line. Whereas I learned that early on, being on this, getting this platform gave me incredible access and zero credibility.

Got you.

And so I've. Baby C spent my whole career trying to build up credibility. Now, like on this show, for example, one of our segments is Ask Nick. I offer relationship advice from, like, my mistakes and perspective. I'm always like, I'm not a therapist, you know, but I can tell you what I think, you know, talk to your therapist, talk to your, you know, but, like, I'll give you my opinion. And even to this day, there are people who are just like, you're not an expert, you know, you don't know what you're talking about. You don't have the credibility that we.

[Nick Viall]

Think is required of you for us.

[Rosanna Pansino]

To see you as like a thought leader in this space. And I'm just curious, as early in YouTube, did you ever experience pushback from your audience or maybe other bakers or cookers who. People who maybe had that education. I find that to be common in my space where it's just like. Yeah. Where it's just like if anyone's gone to school. Yeah. And like studied mental. It's just like I'm not, you know, allowed to have an opinion because like I didn't have a certain type of background. And I'm curious if you dealt with that and then how did you deal with that with your audience?

I was on a panel, I won't say where it was a food panel. And it was a bunch of fancy pantsy chefs who all went to official culinary school. And I was self top home baker. And yeah, they were kind of giving me a hard time about it. So what I did is I hired a full time food producer, full time, who worked with me for over six years and she used to teach at Colon Bleu. So she taught me everything. And the good news is everything my grandma taught me, my nonna, my mamma mia. Was correct. They just didn't teach me the science of why it was correct. An example of this is like making ganache. My grandma and my mom would tell me, put the cream on the stove in a sauce pot, bring it to a scald. A scald is like when the little bubbles form all the way around the edge. Not a boil. The boil is when all the bubbles are in the middle. That's too hot. You've ruined it. It's too hot. But just tell a scald. When the bubbles go all the way, remove from the heat. Then you pour it over the chocolate fully submerged. You let it sit for like a minute and then mix it up and then let it cool at room temperature. That's a ganache. And I didn't realize that that is correct. That is absolutely. That's cordon bleu. That is cordon bleu. Fancy baking training. But my grandma just didn't know the word for it is that process is called emulsification. Like she just didn't understand the science of it. But everything she taught me was what they're teaching at the fancy bakery, like culinary schools. But after hiring that producer, now I have the vocabulary and I understand the training and so I kind of, like, created my own course at home.

And do you think that helped you more, just having the confidence that if you were to meet that kind of snobby, very highly educated person.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it helped you more rather than credibility with your audience. Cause they already were loving what you were doing.

Yeah, I think my audience already loved what I was doing. And also fellow bakers. And that's what mattered to me. Me the most, is other women and men who are running bakeries who are baking every day. They loved my recipes because my grandma knew what she was doing. Okay, she. She done good. But it was really interesting because it was just a few kind of snotty.

Like, I already forgot what that was. I don't want to say, like, emulsification.

Emulsification. Yeah. Like, they were kind of elitist, you know, they were really into. But now I feel very comfortable because.

Because it sounds like something like a mansplaining opportunity would be, like, well, that's a multiplication. Like, so it's boiling. Like, so it's ready. Is it ready? I don't know. Like, yeah.

So I felt that just a little, like, on that panel. But otherwise, everybody, especially baker. Fellow bakers are like, you know your shit. And I'm always. I'm honestly learning new things from them and techniques because food is evolving, like, so quickly. Like, even new flowers are coming out all the time. Like, Trader Joe's released this article a couple years ago, but they were, like, releasing over 10 new flours, like banana flour, because, you know, they have rice flour, they have coconut flour. And I'm, like, experimenting baking with all of them. But, like, food is really. It's getting fun.

[Natalie]

Did you have any, like, nightmare recipes or anything that happened on your channel where you were like, oh, my God.

[Rosanna Pansino]

They will never see the light of day because I literally threw it.

Have you ever thought of putting together, like, a blooper at the.

I have put together a few bloopers where it's mostly dyslexic moments where I can't talk and I'm, like, having, like, flubs in my head. But, yeah, there are a few episodes that we just threw away because it was the first time I was working with chocolate. So I'm a baker, but not, like, I don't even know what you call it. A chocolate expert. Like a chocolatier. I don't know. And it is tricky. It's very finicky with temperature. It's extremely. And I was trying to add these fatty flakes to the. To, like, thin It a little bit. I went. It turned into like globby. I. I got so frustrated. That episode didn't see the light of day. And then I was making a Sonic the Hedgehog cake where I was making each little checker out of fondant and I was sticking it on the cake and I was up till 4 in the morning and I'm literally. And it was a tiered cake and I'm. And I was so tired. I bumped into the table. Table and knocked it on the floor. And I just went it. And I just went to the bathroom and saw my little eyes out. And I usually. I'm so like a neat freak. Like, I clean up everything right away. I left it. Y. I was like, I can't do this much time on this cake. I just can't. And we have never recreated that cake and I never will.

When you're not making YouTube videos and food for the audience, what is your favorite thing to make for yourself? And what's your favorite thing to make up your partner?

He loves Italian food, so he's really easy. I like to make pastas from scratch. We do pizzas. He's really, really easy in that sense. He has a pretty simple palate, but he actually makes a really good beef bulgogi and he fillets salmon really well. Like, I love a pan seared salmon too. He does. He does that really well. So we kind of switch.

You can't cook or feel like you can't cook well or you're like, yeah.

[Natalie]

That sound like the hedgehog cake.

[Rosanna Pansino]

That sound like the hedgehog cake.

[Nick Viall]

That's very specific.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Never happening again. No. I really love food. I like to tackle different projects. I'm so curious. I have ADHD too, so I just like new things. It gets me really excited and I think I get excited about challenges versus get intimidated by them. Even if they're disasters and they fail. Other than the Sonic the Hedgehog thing, that was a labor of love gone wrong. Um, but everything else has been really, like, fun. Yeah, I basically. I just. I wish I had more time to cook, honestly. Like, we're so busy that some days we just will Uber eats.

Or actually, do you have a doordash?

My mom lives with me and my mom is Italian. So, like, she cooks dinner every night.

Oh, really?

She demands that she's doing that no matter what. So sometimes I just eat what she's made because she's not gonna stop no matter what.

It's like her love language.

Yeah, you try stopping an Italian woman, it's not gonna Happen. It's just. You gotta get out of the way.

Yeah.

And eat it.

[Nick Viall]

Or don't.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah. So most of the time, I. Actually, we. My mom is still cooking for us, which is so sweet. I used to cook for my mom.

I wanna cook with.

You. Should.

Some of my stuff.

You should see if she likes it. You should. Yes, we should cook. We have so much fun.

[Natalie]

We always have.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Like.

[Natalie]

Like, do you. Do you eat steak?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yes. Well, I'm curious. Before she says that, I'm sure you go out to restaurants from time to time. Is there something that you love to cook? And the people you cook for love it so much, and then you order that at a restaurant, you're like, okay, this is not mine.

No. Oh, my gosh. Every time I go out, I feel so spoiled by chef. To have chef make me something that I'm not having to make, I feel so, Like. I feel so amazing. I'm like, this is great. I. I appreciate every bite. No, I. I feel amazing and spoiled every time we go out.

[Natalie]

Well, Nick makes such an incredible steak that we'll go to a steakhouse or wherever we're at and order a steak, and we'll be like, is this better?

[Rosanna Pansino]

She's bigger than I am.

She.

She makes me feel. I. I will enjoy a steak at a restaurant, and she'll be like, it's not yours.

We need to hang out here. Need to make steak. And I can make, like, handmade pastas or whatever.

Like, I would very much like to learn how to make homemade pasta. Oh. It's like, we'll have a homemade pizza night, and I'll get all the. Like, I'll make homemade. I'll make the sauce.

Yeah.

And then we'll get the ingredients. But I usually just will get, like, the dough at a Whole Foods or an Italian grocery store.

Yeah, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.

No.

[Nick Viall]

But I would like to be able.

[Rosanna Pansino]

To say I made the pizza. Like, the whole thing.

Yeah. Making the dough doesn't take that much longer. There are some recipes that are pretty. Pretty quick.

[Natalie]

Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

There are some recipes that are quicker. There's a range. There's, like, fast and then quick. And I literally could talk about food forever. We were at a ladies night one time with my girlfriend, and she was like, have you ever been to this office building? And I was like, yeah, it's right by that one restaurant, and they got this on their menu. And she's like, you're so crazy because you remember where things are based on. On food. Yeah. Like, I remember where places are in LA based on where the food is around it. That's kind of my land.

[Natalie]

Great recommendations that we'll also need to.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Pick your brain on.

Yes.

Oh, my gosh. Have you been to Bakkeri?

[Natalie]

Is that the little place? The outdoor. It's like a cute little garden outdoor alleyway.

[Rosanna Pansino]

And they have the two bars, the two buildings, and then there's this studio. Yes. And they do like tapas. Bartender there is phenomenal. The strawberry fizz. The bakarita, which is a. It's a. Oh, we'd have to do a mommy one. Okay.

[Natalie]

Okay.

[Rosanna Pansino]

But. Oh, their salmon is bomb too. It is really good. Yeah, we don't. The steak's good. We don't get out. You might like their. Oh, well, it might not be as good as yours.

Well, I mean, again, I think it's just.

You can compare it.

[Natalie]

I just gas em up, you know, I just.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I don't want anyone thinking, I think I make the best steak ever. I just. We like our steak.

You should use you a good book.

I know how to cook like seven things really well.

Okay. You got seven recipes locked down. We need a few more.

I did figure out how to make sesame chicken.

Right on.

And I made it in the dark because we had no power.

What?

[Natalie]

How'd you do it in the dark?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Like on a fire pit?

I went to Home Depot and got one of those, like, flashlights you wear on your head.

Okay.

[Natalie]

And we have a gas stove, so the gas is working.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Gas. Yes. And you made it work and it worked.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. It was crazy.

[Natalie]

It was wild.

[Rosanna Pansino]

That is amazing.

[Natalie]

It was wild.

[Rosanna Pansino]

How many videos have you posted in total on your YouTube channel?

I have no idea. I actually. Mike would know. Mike, do you. You know? Well, with shorts, it kind of messes it up now. Okay, well, Mike's a nerd, so he's calculating the shorts. I don't know what.

We have like 13 years.

It's like I've just posted. It usually is one a week, sometimes it's two a week, sometimes three a week. But it's always at least one a week for. I don't know if we're on year 15, 16. Gosh, I can't even remember. But it's like some of my friends, my. Because my friends in real life are YouTubers and so it's just crazy how long we've known each other. Like, Justine, I was just thinking about the other day and I'm like, we've been friends for like 15 years. Wow. We Were just texting each other the other day, and I was. I was just blown away by that. Like, it's.

[Natalie]

I mean, was that a commitment you made to yourself in the beginning? Like, if I'm gonna do this, I'm not gonna slack or half ass it. Like, I'm gonna. Or has this been every single week? Even when you don't wanna do it, you're like, you better put an episode.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Oh, I. Oh, yeah. I told my audience they're gonna announce episode. Okay. We have filmed when I've had the flu. Wow. We filmed when I lost my dad. We filmed through anything, like hell or high water. It's coming. That's just another thing my dad instilled in me. My dad worked on a bunch of military contracts, had a bunch of military friends. My grandfather was a marine. And they're just very badass. They're very tough. There's a lot of grit, and that's something that I take with me into business deals, into entertainment, just everything. I just take that because I think it really helps. It creates stability, steadfastness, and an unshakability even when everything else is going to shit. Like Covid. Like, I'm. I'm literally. I was like, watching the news, I'm like, okay, Mike, we're all gonna die. I was right. When Covid came out, I was freaking out. I was like, I could just see it over the globe. They have that global map of it. Like, it's spreading. And I was like, here's the apocalypse, Zombie apocalypse. It's happening. And I was like, and we're going to teach you guys how to make some sourdough bread at home. Okay? So the first step, you're going to need to activate that yeast. So I'm like, literally just like, now wash your hands. Apocalypse. We might need to know how to make our own bread. This might be a thing we need to know. So just trying to.

Were your episodes themed in, like, survival? A little bit.

We should have been literally, I was so out of it then that, like, it feels like a blur. I remember I was in the hot tub at our house. I had an edible and I ordered a pizza and was drinking champagne. I'm like, well, I might die next week, so let's just live it up. And Mike's like, this is ridiculous. Like, we're gonna get through this. It's gonna be okay. I was like, absolutely, Mike. We are. But just in case, I'm gonna enjoy every second of my life.

So when you're not making YouTube videos or panicking about the end of the world. How do you have a healthy work life balance?

I am so social. It's hard for me to sometimes not be social. I put social first.

Okay.

I love people, so I am always at my friends, birthday parties, weddings, events. I just love to go to everything. Like social butterfly, unintentional socialite. I just need to socialize. And then I have three bulldogs, so I always love to play with them, go on walks with them, take them on hikes. I'm really close with my mom because we live together, so we do like ladies nights. And even with my girlfriends, I'll organize girls trips. We'll go out and have fun. And so very much a social creature who happens to be an entrepreneur. I think that's kind of more where I lie. I know numbers are important, so Mike more focuses on those, but I do care about those. Those are important, but I more care about the people. Like whenever I'm working on a new project, I really just hope that, like, I'll make a friend. It doesn't always happen, but I like, I hope it happens like that. Just. I don't know. That's kind of like how my dad was too. He was just friends with everybody. He was so sweet. He just got along with everybody. Little social guy.

[Natalie]

Were there moments in your career where you felt overwhelmed with the attention?

[Rosanna Pansino]

No, I didn't mind any of it. I think I'm a pretty open book. I honestly suck at vlogging, so I think for like daily vloggers or like daily livestreamers, they get a lot more of that fanatical following. Whereas if you're just uploading one video a week, it's not as fanatic. I would love to be a vlogger, but here is the problem. I forget to film. I'm so in the moment when I'm social with my friends that I forget to film completely. Like I. I'm like, I like. I hang out with so many big youtubers and I would say celebr people would have no idea because I don't take pictures. We do board game nights, we go to parties, we go to dinners. And we don't take one photo. We don't post anything. It's just social. It's just for us. So that would be my thing. I wish I could be a vlogger, but I.

Do you really though? I mean, I don't know, it seems like because you're, you know, I think what you're describing is. I mean, anyone honestly can relate to it now with everyone is you know, everyone has a phone, everyone has a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or whatever it is. And yeah, you know, you go out in public and you just. Everyone. You see everyone, everyone doing this, right? And no one's like, present or living in the moment, even if they, you know, it's not. They don't even have a career doing it, you know, and then I know I've. I've felt that before, you know, where you're constantly, like, making content. You're just like. You show up to a thing and like, oh, that's really cool. I got to get this. And you're not really enjoying the moment or present. And I've, you know, if you've. Most of my Instagram stuff is just the podcast, the show, I'm grateful I have a team that can do it for me because it's like, you know, I think this morning I posted a picture of me in the mirror with, like, a fit check, I guess. Like, I'll do that like, every two weeks, I suppose. I'm so bad on Instagram, I've gotten like, really? I used to do the talking head stuff, and now it's just like. I don't know. I just. I would rather not, you know, because I think it just. It got me way too focused on. I would show up to make content or just always have it on my mind. And it was. It just kind of.

[Natalie]

I feel like it ruined everything. Every experience, certain things into work, you know? Like, I remember when we were like, planning our wedding and it was like, okay, you know, how many people do you want to collab with? And I was like, I don't really want to be, like, worrying about posting and tagging and doing all of this on my wedding weekend. So, you know, I feel like it turns when you are, like, with your girlfriends, you're hanging out, you're doing board game, you're like, oh, wait, I gotta, let me take a picture and post this. It then turns it into, now I'm working. Now I'm, you know, not as connected, not as, like, involved.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Maybe the downside to vlogging that I didn't even think about.

[Natalie]

Yeah. But I feel like. I mean, I have so much respect for daily vloggers.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I.

[Natalie]

You're in a grind.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I don't know how they do. I literally just forget to film all the time. Sometimes I'll go to an event and I was supposed to take a picture of something and Mike will be like, ro. And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

[Natalie]

You're like, on the way Home.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You're like, I totally. I didn't take one photo. And Mike's like, okay, I'll just ask one of your friends. And, like, one time I accidentally went live at a Sabrina Carpenter concert. I was there with my girlfriend, and my phone was just, like, on my hip, and it went live. So I was like a live streamer for a second, and I had no idea. And I also don't pay attention. I'm literally just doing my thing, partying, having so much fun. They had, like, a margarita keg. I was having a blast. And Mike was literally. He couldn't. He was calling me. I couldn't. I'm not paying attention to my phone. So he started calling my other. Other friends that he knew were in the suite. And they weren't even people I went with. They were just people he knew that were there. And he was like, can somebody. She's on live. Can someone let her know she's live? And, like, finally, finally, like, oh, hey, guys. I was like, oh, my gosh. How do I even. I didn't even know how to, like, turn it off. So this is so funny because that.

Must have been terrifying, though, because, like, you know, we live in a world where, like, it's terrifying.

I see. I think it's more funny because, like, there isn't anything I would do in private, I think, or in public that I'd be really mortified about, Honestly, like, even my wild party stories where I've maybe had too much tequila and jumped in somebody's pool and got kicked out by a bodyguard. Maybe even those like, I'm not embarrassed by. I'm just having fun. Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah. You.

[Natalie]

I mean, you have shared a lot of your life online. Have you hit a point where you kind of have drawn a line of, like, what you want to share, what you don't want to share?

[Rosanna Pansino]

I definitely have thus far, but I think I'm going to be even more open. We just got some good news. We just got. Our season two of our podcast was renewed, so that's going to be coming out soon. And we have a new co host. I'm so excited. It's a fellow little Italian, Olivia Lopes from H3 podcast. And she's basically like, she knows all the Page Six pop culture things going on in the world. I don't. And that's kind of our shtick, is she's gonna share, like, pop culture stuff, we're gonna talk about it, I react to it, and I'm there more for the vibes. I make us a Drink. At the top of episode, I'm gonna be blending us a new drink. One day a pinagulata, the next day a mint julep. We're just gonna be. I'm gonna be bringing the vibes, the booze, and some random animal and science facts, because that's what I read a lot of. I read a lot of National Geographic. I'm subscribed and Scientific American. And so, like, okay, for example, did you guys know that raccoons are domesticating themselves, like, as we speak, as a species? Yes. They are domesticating themselves to humans, like, for survival. Like, they're becoming house pets. They're, like, literally changing their behavior.

[Natalie]

Like, I know you've always thought we.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Were cute, so you might as well let us in. It is the cutest.

[Natalie]

Let us sit at the table, go.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Down a rabbit hole on Instagram of raccoon pets. It's happening. And National Geographic. Everyone is recognizing it. It is actually happening. Everyone.

So we're embracing this?

Yes, we're embracing it. Because they're so cute. They honestly. Have you seen their hands? They have little human hands, and they're very clean. They wash their food before they eat it. And one of I think the funniest and meanest things that people are doing is they give the raccoon piece of cotton candy, and they will immediately put it in their water bowl because they want to wash it before they eat it. And it disappears and they go. And they, like. And they keep looking in the water, like, wait, it was. It was just here. Wait, wait. And, like, so many new raccoon owners are doing this because they're just getting a big kick out of it now.

[Natalie]

They're going to be like, no more washing our food.

[Rosanna Pansino]

We're losing it in the water. Everybody taking fast. They, like, they're getting along with people's dogs. They'll cuddle with the dogs. They're like. They're just.

[Natalie]

Next, they'll be, like, in bed with the babies.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Random. Yeah. They're still illegal in the state of California. I looked. I asked Mike if we could get one, but apparently you can get them in, like, Vegas.

Okay.

[Natalie]

Did Mike look when you were like, can we get a raccoon? Was he like, I'll look into it, or was he like, this is a you thing.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I've asked to own, like, every animal that we could ever own, like, a capybara. I was like, can we turn the pool, you know, into, like, a fresh water? We could just. We could. This would be great. And he's like, no, we can't own those. I was like, ah, but can we imagine? Or a wombat sanctuary. Do you know how awesome that would be? They're so cool. I love wombats. They like poop squares.

Got you checked out. He's just like, I've heard this.

Literally. Their poops. Their poops are squares. They're like. I don't get it. Like, how. Why are they cubes? That's so weird. They look like.

[Nick Viall]

Like this.

[Rosanna Pansino]

They're like this.

Are you serious?

This is a wombat poop. They're square poops.

Can you Google wombat poop?

You have to. They're so weird. It's just like. And they look like little teddy bears. Oh, my gosh. You gotta see it. What? They're square. How is that possible? They're square poops.

[Natalie]

How is that possible?

[Rosanna Pansino]

So this is the kind of vibes I'll be bringing if you. Yeah. Have you ever wanted. Tune in to us. We'll just literally be. It's just gossip. We'll be covering all the, like, I don't know, like that Beckham stuff and all the stuff I know nothing about.

[Natalie]

I know baking and all that Beckham stuff.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah. I don't. I don't follow it. I don't know what's happening.

They're not getting along.

Yeah, they're not getting along. I can gather that. That's about all I know. And there was major drama. Drama at the wedding.

[Nick Viall]

How.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You know, I'm curious. How have you been? You know, you've had. You have had such a long career and. And I don't feel like being in the public eyes for the faint of heart, so to speak. And a lot of your. Not sure if you're friends with all of them, but a lot of YouTube stars have been caught up in various controversies and things like that. I'm just curious your perspective on one. How have you been able to have such longevity? And has it ever worn on you being in the public eye and feeling like, you know, maybe you did something? You know, speaking about the passing of your father, there was a story about how you. He was cremated. Is it okay to talk about that?

Yeah.

[Natalie]

Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

And my understanding of the story, correct me if I'm wrong, is then you took his ashes, you put it in a plant, you grew some weed, you smoked the weed.

Absolutely.

Which sounds as someone who dabbles.

[Natalie]

Yes.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I love. That was pretty cool as a way to memorialize your father.

Thank you.

But it sounds like maybe some people on the Internet had a different interpretation of that.

Yeah.

And we Certainly know what it's like to, you know, we're on this podcast, we're talking hours a day, and then we'll say something and a couple days later, you know, someone will call me and be like, do you know they're saying this about what you said? I'm like, what? How are they?

[Nick Viall]

That's not what I.

[Rosanna Pansino]

You know, and then now we're in the short form world, right? You know, people will go on clips and they'll take a five minute conversation and turn into a 90 second conversation. And you're like, well, yeah, but that's not what I said. Or I certainly didn't mean that. You know, And I guess when it comes to your father, I did that.

A lot with my dad.

[Nick Viall]

How did you process that?

[Rosanna Pansino]

And did it ever get to you?

I don't care what strangers think. Like, if I don't know you, I don't care. Because that's your own. What your opinion is of me is your business, not mine. And I also know who I am so much, especially now at my age. I. I just don't care what people in general think of me. I think I only care about my family and friends. I think that that is where my heart is. So that's the only thing that really affects me is the people who I actually love are a part of my life that I'm close to. Those are the people that can hurt me the most. I think that, that that's the little bit of the difference. And I don't know if it's a tough skin, but it's definitely something I've learned over the years on YouTube. I remember the first year I was on YouTube, I got negative comments and it really upset me. Like, these comments were like, your voice is annoying. Your lighting sucks. You're stupid. Your lighting sucks. You know, And I was like, whoa, okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Yeah.

But then I realized, like, hey, my lighting does kind of suck. So some of the insults were actually really constructive. So I actually took some of those insults and, and like, things even my fans wouldn't tell me. Like, my fans wouldn't tell me, like, hey, your lighting sucks dick. You know, but literally haters would. So then I was like, my lighting could use improvement, so I would take that and make my content better. So just thank you to all my haters because I listened to every single word and used it to improve. But other than that, I let the rest go because there's nothing really you can do about it. Like, there's. There was some pretty mean people, like When I honored my dad, I get that it's a weird thing to do. Like, honoring your dad in that way is not an ATYP or it's ATYPical. It's not typical. But my dad was like, kind of a Willie Nelson type. He was an outdoorsman. He worked on military contracts. He taught me how to shoot. He was kind of a cowboy. He grew up in Kansas. He was just a badass. He taught me how to fish for my own food. And he dabbled. He smoked a little bit of weed time to time. And it was something really symbolic and meaning to him. And he wanted me to take the ashes, mix it with soil, grow a cannabis plant.

So this was like a request from him.

Yeah. This was his last dying wish. Wow. And it took me five years to get to the point where I was comfortable doing it. And I worked with a real licensed grower here in California, an expert, and I did the process with them. And. And it was really symbolic and really special and really meaningful. And I explained that all when we were public about it, because, you know, entertainment's a small town. People are gonna find out. So I thought it's better to be open and honest about it than to, like, do it in private. And then people slowly find out and it turns into something it's not. And, like, I'd rather people hear it from me.

How disheartening was that? Even though you went to such great lengths to, quote, unquote, do it wrong, which I don't not. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to memorialize your father. But you hired the expert botanist or grower or whatever. You were upfront with your audience. You set those upfront expectations. And then the Internet still Interneted.

The Internet is always gonna Internet. Which was really funny is like, the people who were really hateful and judgmental were really hateful and judgmental. But the other set was so supportive and. And even, like, culturally, in different cultures, people do something kind of similar. And those people reaching out made me feel a lot better. And there's even just people who would take ashes of remain ones and they would, like, put it in the soil and grow a tree. A lot of people are choosing to do that as well nowadays. So they were saying that, like, that's pretty similar, you know, like if you grew it into an apple tree. And I was trying to explain to people that plants filter the themselves. My dad's DNA is not actually in the plant there, is it? They filter themselves. But it's the symbolism that was Their big concern. Yeah, yeah. On I can't remember what pod. It was one of Tana's podcasts. That one. That isn't it. She insinuated. Brooke insinuated that it was illegal what I was doing. And Paige said I was a cannibal. Oh, my God. And she went on four podcasts and spread this misinformation. And that's where I got into some beef with Tana, because I told her in person, like, Facebook, to face what I was doing, why it was important, why it was meaningful. And then she just exploited it for views and just completely oversimplified it and let her friends start rumors. Like. And I had to literally go and clear it up and be like, it's not illegal in the state of California. You can grow six plants per residence. Like, nothing I did was illegal. Everything was by the book. Like, it. And also, plants filter themselves. There's no form of that in any way. I would never do that. Like, it's a very hippie thing to do, but it's. That's not it.

Have you guys reconciled at all?

No. Cuz she went on four podcasts and exploited my dad's death for views and money. It's tough. That's not something a friend does. That's. And especially I'm Italian. Like, we're so close with our family. When my dad, he passed away, leukemia. She also knows that, like, he was diagnosed. I had six years with him and he lived with me. And, like, I helped bring him to appointments. Like, we spent every day together until he passed. We were extremely close. So that.

No, no, I hear you.

I would never talk about my friends, parents who passed away ever, in a disrespectful manner. I would never talk about how they honored them. I would never. That is, there are some things you don't do, like, ethically, morally. And then the fact that I considered her a friend, like, this is somebody I invited to my little nephew's birthdays and stuff. Like, no, Italians don't play like that.

Yeah. Did you ever confront her?

Oh, I made a video. Yeah. But no, I have no interest.

[Natalie]

Zero. Did it affect your grieving process? Having to deal with the response of, like, having to be like, actually, wait, guys. Like, no, this isn't illegal. I did all this. Right. Plants filter themselves. Like, having to explain yourself. Did that take away from being able to actually grieve your father?

[Rosanna Pansino]

I think that I had a lot of support and help, so I think it definitely could have. It had the ability to do that. But I was really Lucky to have David Kessler on, and he is the national leading expert. And grief. He actually counseled Joe Biden when he lost his son. And I got to spend time with him and sit down with him and just learned so much from him. He's a wealth of knowledge, and it really helped give me strength and knowledge and change my perspective about other people's opinions about it. And my dad was such a badass that the way we honored him was also badass. And there's nothing wrong with smoking a little weed. And anyone who has a problem with that sucks.

[Natalie]

Was there. Is there anything that you took from him that you can share with our audience that, like, really helped you?

[Rosanna Pansino]

My dad had a really cute quote and I'm going to mess it up, but it was basically just always play with musicians who are more talented than you. And he said in my case, that wasn't very hard because he loved music, but. But he wasn't the best singer. But he was really good at guitar. And he just said, always surround yourself with people who are into what you're doing basically, and you can learn from them. But he was just a really cool guy. Really odd, like, friend circle. Because of my dad's military background, there was a lot of people who people would consider to be very conservative. And he grew up with Mad Dog, and it's just Jim, and he was in Eagle Scouts with him. And then also there was people who liked to dabble and were very much hippies. And so my dad was kind of this mix of both worlds, and he brought both of those worlds together, and it was just so beautiful. I've never, ever seen someone like my dad. It was. He had the most hiperal, like, hippie liberal friends. And then the most concerned. It was the, like. And you put them together and they're literally drinking beers and playing Croatia. Okay. Together. Like, it's happening. I don't. And it. It was just magical. And it was. I think it stemmed from love. He just really loved people. Yeah. It's really beautiful. I wish you guys could have met him. Papa Pizza was the best. Oh, he sounds like he's the best. He was so fun. Oh, I miss him all the time.

[Natalie]

It seems like you have a lot of your dad in you.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah, that's what my mom says. I even look like him. Really? So I look more like my dad than my mom? Yeah.

[Natalie]

I think our daughter looks more like.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Nick than me, too, so. Really? Yeah. Oh, that's too funny. I think.

[Natalie]

I feel like most girls look like their father. You know, it's like the caveman times to prove, you know, eternity, whatever.

[Rosanna Pansino]

But yeah, she.

Yeah, you're definitely mine.

She looks just like Nick.

[Natalie]

When she was a newborn, everyone would say she looked just like Nick's dad. And I was like, I'm. How does my little precious baby look? Like a 60 year old man with a beard. I'm confused.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Oh my God. Oh my gosh. I just remembered another really fun piece of advice. My dad knew I was going to be short because he's. He was a shorty and I was not, you know, when I was growing up, I was not coming in at the top, top of the height charts. Yeah, this percentiles for children's height averages. So he was like, look, if anyone makes fun of you for being short, you tell them to eat shit. And I was like, thanks, dad. So he was just a very, like, if someone hits you, hit them back harder. And my mom hated that. She was like, no, no, no, Mike, no, no, no, no, no. I'm like, that's not. But I definitely am my father's daughter. That is just. There's a fight within me that he instilled there. He was very much a very like feisty Irishman. And I'm the same way. Yeah, I love that.

I'm curious about, can we talk to you about Mr. Beast?

Yeah, of course. Yeah, I love him. He's my best friend.

But not just focusing on him, but the larger conversation. I think the reason I'm curious is because you come up and like I come from Bachelor Nation, right. So you kind of get lumped into this group of like anyone who goes on this show. So if someone who's kind of part of that fraternity does something that, you know, people take exception with or a buzz is created, maybe for good or bad, often it's like, well, what do you think about them? You know, your community, your people, you should speak up on this, et cetera, et cetera. And there have been a lot of YouTubers over the years who have. Have been caught up in controversy. Some very much deserved by their actions, others maybe unclear. And so I guess for a larger question, how do you decide as someone who's an OG in this YouTube space from the very beginning, often sounds like you've probably interacted and maybe friends with a lot of these people. How have you handled that problem? Pressure or maybe there has been no pressure to decide whether you should use your platform and your voice to maybe challenge or critique some of your peers.

That's a really good question. I think advice my dad gave Me just in general about relationships is speak up when it matters, about the bigger things and let little things go. He said that that was the best marriage advice he could ever give me. He said him and my mom, they never fought about little things. Let the little stuff go. Just have those disagreements about the big things. Save it for that. It's going to save you a lot of time. And I think for me that's what I've been trying to lean into. I only speak up unless I feel it's egregious and it's just hitting a point of fed upness. For example, on the Escape the night Stephen, I spoke up because Joey Graceffa. Wait, have you had Joey on? He's the sweetest person. Oh my gosh. Joey Graceffa is the sweetest YouTuber, just person, human being in the entire world. He's literally just like the kindest, most creative individual. He's so sweet that anyone who is mean to him, it's like kicking a puppy. Like my full mama bear comes out. I'm like, and that's not my usual side, it's just a side of me. Like if you see a puppy being kicked, like, it's like, okay, I'm a rip your. I'm gonna rip your throat out. Do that again. It's just that kind of instinct kicks in. It's a protective instinct. And I think it's because I have a lot of, I have a lot of estrogen. I actually have a disorder, a hormone disorder, but I have a lot of estrogen. It's just very mama bear. And, and so when I see behavior that triggers it, I think it's worth to speak up about. I spoke up when Logan Paul filmed in the Japanese forest. I spoke up not just publicly, but privately with YouTube executives. He really damaged the ecosystem on YouTube for a while. A lot of huge advertisers pulled out and it affected creators in a big way. Not just big creators, but mostly the smaller channels and medium sized channels because these huge advertisers pulled out bigger channels, had multiple revenue streams, so they were kind of okay. But I would say the medium to small sized channels, it was devastating. They lost most all their income. It was that adpocalypse and he didn't care. His, his apology tour that he went on was just for his own PR shit. Like that is the kind of behavior where he didn't understand that his behavior infected an entire community of people. An entire community of like, that's their livelihood, that's how they make money. Like, he didn't Care about the community, just care about, about himself. Those are the kind of people I just don't get along with because there is nothing wrong with being successful. More power to you. Like Markiplier, One of my favorite YouTubers, I love him. He's talented, hardworking. He just released a movie, Iron Jaw Claw Long. He released it privately and it just made like $30 million. There are ways to make money and be successful and not hurt other people. And I think that that's where I draw a line and that's what I really don't like. I don't like when people make money off of other people hurting them. I think it's just like it's a mama bear thing with me. I don't like that at all. And it's the same with Beast. Like I, I know a lot more than other people do because when I spoke up, I basically became an unofficial hotline, like a, an abuse hotline for Mr. Beast's employees and people who have worked with him. And I Talked to over 200 people, not just from Beast Games, but 50 people who were former and current employees at, at Mr. Beast. And terrible behavior and things that are going on behind the scenes, just awful. Just every ounce of me has to control myself not to say something because things are in the works and. Yeah.

Do you think it's being dealt with?

I think some, I think some things are and some things will come to light and I think that I just, I don't know, I'm just thinking about the people who are affected by him. I, I know that when you run a big company, nothing's perfect, perfect. But what I learned working with him and my multiple experiences, a lot of people just think I'm the girl that was in his creator games video and I got edited out of a position I earned. No.

So like they, they say you're slighted and you're mad and this is all about revenge.

Jimmy and I knew each other for over like five or six years. We've worked on multiple business ventures off of YouTube together. He has screwed me over in every single, every single project we've ever worked on. And just for the record, I have never reached out to him to work on anything. He always reached out to me every single time to work with me repetitively. It was a one way thing. And Creator Games 3, I was in 1, 2 and 3 and the third one was just my final straw. I think that after just being disrespected and treated so poorly in private for years by him and then I earned My spot. And he. It's about fair representation. Like, he says his videos are real and authentic. And that's not what happened. Edited out the only woman in the top three. I earned my spot. I beat Logan Paul. And he didn't show that. He showed that Logan got second place. Logan got like sixth place. He gave up. He got tired. And it was really sad. Is I have more endurance than Logan Paul. Like, I'm like, what? How much older than him? And like, I'm a little old woman and I have more endurance than him. That's embarrassing for him. Like, that is really embarrassing. He, like, he got too tired and he got too tired and he, he had to give up and out of the freezer and wait. And I was just, you know, still Green Beret in it. Like, let's go. We can do this. But that's the, that's the thing that bothered me is I beat them fair and square. I followed all the rules. I didn't cheat. And he allowed cheating. He allowed Zach King, who won number one, to cheat. He allowed. He edited Logan to be second. He didn't get second. He got six.

But you're also saying just outside of that bullshit, which I completely understand why it's frustrating.

Well, that's just a fraction of it. Just imagine what happens. But behind the scenes, you know what?

I can. I could see some of his defenders should be like, oh, you're just mad you didn't like your edit. You know, basically, I don't give a.

Shit about the edit. It's about six years of dealing with this man. And in every aspect, he screws people over. It's not. Well, he's in every aspect that we work together. He didn't, he didn't treat me with any respect.

Just like from the first say, like the first or second or second or third time after he had screwed you over once, what was the internal thought process that you had to say? I'm gonna give him some grace. Let's try this again. How did you get to that point and then again at your comfort level? Like, what changed?

I think what changed is realizing that I do have a mindset for long term relationships. I do give a lot of grace. I do try to work things out. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, which I did. I basically made a million excuses. This could have happened. This could have happened. This could have happened. For every business deal that went terrible and every situation that went terrible, I just gave so much grace. But in that moment, it was him not taking accountability and Allowing now it's like 400 million people even. Because right when I came out in the beginning, people said I was lying, that I didn't earn that spot. And it's not taking accountability and telling millions of people that no, that actually did happen. We did edit it to be different than what actually happened. Like just taking accountability for what he did to me so publicly.

He called you a liar.

Yeah, because he didn't take accountability on the phone. I had a private phone call with him and Keemstar, he apologized, but it was a fake apology. It was one of those apologies that I'm sorry that happened. Again, not taking accountability that he chose to make it happen. He specifically recorded voiceover with fake strange storyline to fill in the gaps of what did not happen to make it seem like it happened. It was intentional.

And his whole premise is this isn't edited.

His whole premise is that his videos aren't fake. He doesn't fake his videos. And the video also was a contest giveaway. So we were competing for a million dollars to give away to our community and I came in third. Then it was Quackity and then Zach King. Zach King cheated. So Quackity would have got first, I would have got second. I didn't pay attention to Claire Quackity's gameplay. I don't know what he was doing at all. But I think that it's so much money and that it's the amount of money that could change people's lives, that those of us who were left at the end were taking it serious. Like, I was there for my community. I'm not there for myself. I'm there for them and I'm fighting for them. And I think that also he doesn't understand what that means. In my experience. Experience, he's very sexist. In my experience. He runs a boys club, so I'm not one of his boys. So I'm not going to get any special treatment. I can't cheat. They can. And he's going to edit them to look better than they actually did. And right after I spoke up, it was announced that Mr. Beast is now sponsoring crime. So of course he's going to make Logan Paul look better than he did because, yeah, he wants him to perform better and get more screen time or whatever in a video. I don't give a shit about screen time. I literally, I could host my podcast by myself. I chose to have a co host. Like, I want to share Spotlight. I've been like this since I was a child. I grew up on team sports. Like I, that's just who I am. I know who I am. It really bothers me. People who are like, oh, she's just is mad about this or that. I'm like, no, I'm just tired of getting fucked over by this guy. And also just like, I don't like him as a person. I don't like him off camera. And a lot of people, they don't see him off camera. They have no idea idea. They're just like, they see him on camera. He's a guy who gives away cars, money, candy bars and he's very different, does philanthropy. Yeah, he's, he's, he only cares about one thing. In my opinion. Money and power is his true north. There's nothing else.

[Natalie]

Good hair days do more than we give them credit for. When your hair feels healthy, you show up differently. You feel more confident, more relaxed, and you're not constantly checking the mirror. Neutral supports hair health from within and delivers results over time so your hair becomes something you enjoy, not something you stress about. Neutrophil is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand and is the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists and personally used by me. I've used it for so many years now. It is a product I swear by.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Actually.

[Natalie]

Recently so many people have been like, your hair is so long, it looks so healthy. Well, it is because of neutrophil. Consistency is key to meaningful results and neutral makes staying consistent simple. Setting you up for long term success with all automated deliveries. Free shipping, up to 20 savings, free one to one neuropathic doctor consults and complimentary headspace membership included. Before I got pregnant, I took the women's hair growth nutraceuticals and I cannot tell you how visibly less hair shedding I have, how visibly thicker my hair is. And I cannot wait to take the postpartum one after I give birth because I took it after river. I swear that's the only way I survive postpartum hair shedding. And so I am excited to take that again. Let your hair become one less thing taking up space in your head and see thicker, stronger, faster growing hair shedding in just three to six months with neutrophil for a limited time, Neutrophil is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit neutrophil.com and enter promo code V I A l l that's nutrafol.com spelled n u t r-a f o l.com promo code v I a l l.

[Nick Viall]

Learning a new language is one of those skills that truly stays with you and it's incredibly rewarding once you start hearing yourself understand and speak it naturally. Rosetta Stone makes it simple to to get started and easy to keep going. Whether you are trying to learn a new language or just learn a few words or key phrases before you go and travel well, Rosetta Stone is here for you. We really recently went to Mexico. Well, I'm going to spare you with my bad Spanish, but it's always nice to be able to check into a hotel. Ask the concierge, you know where places to go and it just, you know, it feels more welcoming when you're at least making the effort to speak in.

[Rosanna Pansino]

The language of the country that you're in.

[Nick Viall]

Highly recommend it. It will absolutely upgrade your travel experience. But if you're also just wanting to learn a new language and do something cool in your life, Rosetta Stone can help you get their trusted language Experts. With over 30 years of experience, millions of users in 25 languages to choose from. Rosetta Stone is the go to tool for real language growth. Languages like Spanish, German, Japanese and more learn faster, retain longer. Rosetta Stone Emergency immerses you in your new language naturally, helping you think and communicate with confidence. No English translations, so you truly learn to speak, listen and think in your chosen language. An intuitive learning process starts with words, builds to phrases and progresses to full sentences sound more natural. Their True Accent feature gives you real time feedback on pronunciation. It's like having a personal coach. So if you or anyone you know has been thinking or talking about learning a new language, go to Rosetta Stone right now. It makes an amazing gift. Whether you're treating yourself or a loved one, don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential now. The Vile Files listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50 off. That's half off people. That's a limited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit www.rosettastone.com V I A L L to get started and claim your 50 off today. Again, that's Rosetta Stone.com V I A L L to get started and start learning today.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I I don't follow Mr. Beast very closely. Obviously he's so big that it's hard not to notice the billboards, his appearances on like late night television and stuff like that. The one thing I constantly hear quotes of him is how much he doesn't care about money.

He's a liar. He's on quote in an article I can't remember. It's the Rolling Stones article. I can send it to you. It's quote, he prides himself, I'm a great liar. I think one of the pet peeves I have about him, too, is just how much he lies. It's. It's just like, you want to just shut it off. He goes, I don't care about money. I don't have any money. I'm broke. And then in the same next interview, he'll be like, what's the most money you've ever spent? He's like, Well, I spent $150,000. Take a private jet to go visit my girlfriend. If you have no money, you aren't taking private jets. If you have no, we could go on. But it's the semantics. He's very manipulative. Like when he did the interview with Oompa. My blood is boiling because of the semantics. He focused on things like, they were like, oh, everyone's mad because they say we named this guy Delaware is his nickname because he can't go back to Delaware. But that's not why. That was always his nickname. He focuses on a detail that doesn't matter. No one gives a shit about what the guy's nickname is. Delaware fucking Minnesota. Who the fuck cares what his nickname is? People care that you knowingly hired a registered sex offender who was convicted of rape in the fourth degree of a child and then put him in multiple videos targeted at children on your YouTube channel. That's what people care about. And then when people started to recognize him, then they made him wear a mask and stuff and then eventually fired him. But it's like he has never answered that question directly. Wow. He manipulates every interview. But he's also with. Who's it? Matthew Hilsik, Press crisis management team. He's probably been media trained now, so, like, every time a question comes up, he'll skirt around it. They'll be like, what about your charity video you faked where you said you built a hospital, but you CGI'd it? They didn't build a hospital. You know what they did? They put in solar panels, which is. Is amazing all on its own. You don't need to lie. You don't need to exaggerate. You don't need to say that you did something bigger than it was. Just doing that for a hospital. Giving them power is fucking amazing. Gloat about it. But they didn't. They literally CGI'd building the building, and they let journalists and newspapers who were saying they built the hospital support the narrative that they built a Hospital when they didn't. And then when I called him out on it because his employees are tattling his employee, half of the team quit it or whatever. Like, he's like, oh, yeah, I was one of my editors. And then even Oompa was like, which editor? He won't name names. It was Dan. It was Dan. It was Dan. He produced it, filmed it, edited it, and he was there with Mr. Beast. They were both physically there in person. And just like, so everybody knows. Nothing goes up on Mr. Beast channel without his permission. He goes on so many interviews and says that he is meticulous, he is obsessive. That is correct. Nothing goes up with. Without his permission. An editor didn't just randomly CGI in a fucking building like that was given.

The intern posted that.

Yeah. And he always blames somebody else. It's always a spokesperson said this, a team member. I was an editor. I was a. He has so many fall guys. And that's just the kind of person that needs that many fall people. It just says something to me. Yeah.

[Nick Viall]

He is.

[Rosanna Pansino]

His primary audience is kids, is it not?

Yeah, it's children, young boys. I think he just did a deal in Saudi Arabia. He took some Saudi Arabia money and they did a pop up theme park over there and now he wants to open a bank or he's opening a bank. You can get. Your kids can get a Mr. Beast credit card. Oh, boy. Can't wait. Oh, boy.

I mean, it sounds like you feel like he shouldn't be given the power and privilege that he has and it's potentially dangerous to this.

I think he's an extremely dangerous person. And I think that I wish more people knew who he was behind the camera because I think not the kids, but especially the parents. Like, I think they should know because he is so popular and it does hold a lot of weight and influence. And like, even the candy bars he's selling at Walmart and stuff. Like, I just think parents should know what they're supporting. Claims to be apolitical. He's not. He's hired Republican lobbyists in North Carolina and has not disclosed what he's doing with them. He also has old tweets, he's at Trump rallies. Like, I just think people should understand what is really happening there.

[Natalie]

And it feels like, I mean, you being so brave and outspoken, I can't imagine how. How many people are scared to do that.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah, really scared. Because you get outcasted. So I think the difference is between being canceled and outcasted is basically when you get canceled you get canceled by the public, the community, the people, like people's choice advertisers. You get canceled. Being outcasted is what has happened where I spoke up about the most popular influencer and he's really got his hands in a lot of businesses and a lot of things. And I just got outcasted. Half of my friends who I've known for over a decade stopped talking to me. They've just recently started to come back like, and talk with me now because I have been more quiet. But I think what's interesting is I don't think that there should ever be someone in entertainment, in government that you can't criticize. I don't think that there should ever be someone that is untouchable and can do no wrong and everything gets swept under the rug. I don't think that that is good. I think that accountability should happen and I think that's how you have really healthy and like better environments and communities. I just think that that is the way. I'd love to go. I would love if he became a 24 hour live streamer. Would love it, love it. I hope he does it. I hope he becomes a 24 hour live streamer seven days a week.

[Natalie]

I would love his true colors would show.

[Rosanna Pansino]

I would love for people to meet him.

Are you worried about retaliation from him or his people? Not necessarily his audience? I mean, we now live in a time and not in the weeds of other pop culture stories. But it's pretty common knowledge at this point point that crisis PR teams have the ability to, especially with AI blowing up, to influence Internet conversations. Right? Start campaigns against people. I actually saw this very interesting tweet and she very eloquently talked about how these campaigns work, where they start a theme and then it gets actual organic. Because the argument with these people who do these campaigns is like, no, it's just organic. Is this how people Internet really feel? Right? And, and they'll, they'll speak to like, this is. See, this isn't a bot. This is a real person with a real opinion. And they really think this. How can you discredit this opinion? And, and what it comes down to is how these people, very manipulative, manipulatively and strategically create these campaigns. And then people will jump on those campaigns and, and maybe those things go, they get pushed to go viral and people are like, oh my, my opinion went viral. I could do more of it. So it's, it starts very organically. It does have an organic moment, but that organic moment is manipulated and it can be very scary. And. And you don't. And it's all behind the scenes, so you can never really tell what. What is real, what is authentic. Is this hate coming from, like, did I do something wrong? Or is there someone behind this? And it's almost hard to, like, how do you not get in your head? It's very black mirror, in a way. And I guess with someone of his power and influence, someone who's hiring, like, lobbyists, I mean, that's. That's power. That's crazy power. Is there ever a fear of. Of that happening?

I would say that there's a reason he hasn't sued me.

Okay.

Because if we went to court, everything would come out in discovery and stuff he doesn't probably want on his public record forever. Everything that I have posted on my channel is true. And there's much more. And he. The. There's always the possibility of them starting, like, false AI campaigns to try to ruin my image. The thing is, I just don't care. I'm so old. I've been so blessed. I've had such a long career. I'm 40 this year. And also, I've diversified. Mike and I talked about this many years ago, but I don't talk about it a lot publicly. But I'm a founder of an app, and I also invest into food company. So when you've diversified your revenue streams. My whole world isn't just YouTube anymore. It used to be. And I love YouTube. And it's still a home for me. I love it, and I want to do it till the day I die. I love it. I love the community, and it changed my life in all the beautiful ways. But it also. Fear should never stop any person from doing what's right. I truly believe that. And that's how, like, dictatorships and stuff start, is when people start responding fear to bullies. They start responding into fear of, what if this person's gonna attack me? And whatever that is. When the bullies and that kind of, like, they win. And I just don't believe in it. I don't believe in it. If I. If I was in Star Wars, I would. I would be Han Soloing that shit till the day I die. There is no way I'm gonna put on an Empire suit. Never. So that's just. I would just tell people, don't be scared. Or if you are scared, that's okay. If you feel fear, it's okay. Don't let it stop you from doing the right thing, because you wouldn't believe there's so many more of you than there are of them. That's also what I like to remind myself is like, I don't like to think of like, oh, I'm speaking up against the world's most powerful creator who happens to be a billionaire and is an also other billionaire as back pockets because they're all. They all work together. Like, don't think about that. Just think about doing the right thing, being honest, standing up for what's right, and just let the cards lie where they lie. They know what I know, and I know what they know, and it's just kind of is what it is. I know too much. I think that's the other problem is I know too much. It's just wish I didn't.

[Natalie]

But it is so inspiring, honestly, to just listen to you put your foot down and like, you know, I think time and time again, especially women let you know, powerful men take over constantly. And it is so inspiring to sit here and listen to you be like, not anymore. Not this time. Not to me. Stand up, put your foot down. Like, you can do this.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Oh, it's ridiculous. Did you see Jake Paul's tweet the other day at the super bowl where he was like, everybody turn off the halftime show.

[Natalie]

And then tweeted, I don't know what.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Happened to my Twitter. I don't know what you're talking about. I love Bad Bunny. What? He's one second calling him a fake American because he's standing up to injustice and saying that he does not like these things. These things are fucked up. Because they are. And then the next second is like, oh, no, I love him. I know I love him. The amount of bullshit that comes out of these fool's mouths, I. I just. I'm. I have no tolerance. It's just like the mama bear. No tolerance. I just. Boys, if you're gonna talk your shit, stand by it. At least. I tried to make peace with these, basically, long story short, but the apology I got was fake, and I just don't mess with fake people.

I think it's pretty badass that you've created such a. Like, you talked about diversifying, where it's just like, you're what people know you most for. And, you know, Forbes magazine called you one of the number one earners on. On. On YouTube. And you're like, that's nice to have, but I don't need it anymore. And is.

Don't.

It's a pretty cool thing to be able to.

It's a very nice and privileged spot to be in I also recognize that, I think that there's a lot of other creators that want to be vocal, but they are dependent in some way on not getting outcasted and then not.

To like throw stones at any of those people. Kind of to your point. Point is, is it's, you know what's really important what, what you're saying and what you're doing is you've recognized that you've been able to build what you've been able to build, and that has put you in a position of security that maybe other influences don't have.

Right.

And you recognize that and then you're willing to do something about it and have the empathy for those other creators who maybe don't have that security. And instead of saying, why aren't you doing this and supporting me? You've said, I, I got this, I got it. That's a pretty badass thing.

It's taking a lot of heat. But it's okay. It's just, I feel like it's the right thing to do. Mr. Beast PR team, the Matthew Hilsig people are in the Epstein files. It's the same company consulting Epstein of what to do. Like that crisis management company does not work with the best character people. And as a part of his rehabilitation, they were like, let's focus on his philanthropy work. I'm like, is anybody else seeing what I'm seeing? At what point? I just want people to know, hey, I did my job in 20 years. I'm not gonna say I told you so. I would say, don't say I didn't warn you. Just like, literally, I've said it. It's out there. I've done my best. Damn it. Even his lawyer, Alex, he was technically mentioned in the Epstein files because they're just, it's that group.

So a lot of people in that.

Yeah.

TV stars, politicians.

It's crazy.

Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah. They. He's got a great PR team.

Billion dollars will buy you a lot. I'm curious. You mentioned the Logan Paul on the Suicide Forest. Yeah, totally with you on the, you know, the apology tour. That was self serving. I remember. I think he said something to the effect that I thought this was just interesting. And whether it was sincere or not, certainly not a justification. But he was basically saying like, I live in this algorithm and I'm doing it was basically making an excuse. Right, right. Where it's just like, hey, I have to do a crazy thing every day in order to like, you know, trick the algorithm, so to speak. Obviously you went about Things a different way. So I guess two part question is one, how are you able to not give in to temptation of like, just get, you know, hey, well, they enter, they, I got to do this. Like the pressure. I. I've made so much money, I have to keep building. If you're not growing, you're done. And I guess I just gotta keep doing this. How did you not lose yourself like so many other creators did, trying to like chase the next viral moment?

I would say just don't be an asshole. There's so many successful people on YouTube who are kind hearted, who are amazing, whose numbers increased every year. A lot of sweet gamers that I know that they have the cutest Minecraft channels. People probably don't even hear about them. They make multi, multi millions of dollars a year. They're financially successful, have not been in one drama. There are so many people that find success without being assholes. I think that assholes are really loud, so we see them the most. And I also think with Logan, his excuse of kind of having to one up his last video and go bigger and bigger and bigger. He didn't have to do that. He was extremely successful. He could have not done that. It's just when your true north is money and power, nothing else matters. You don't care about other people. You don't care about how you affect other people, you don't care about their feelings. When money and power is your only true north, then you understand their mindset. Why do they do anything? Just the crypto stuff that he does with his audience, money and power, just anything. It just, that's all it comes down to. It's that simple with them. They're so boring because there's so many people who are so successful. There's a million other examples of how to have financial success. They're just the loudest. They're the loudest assholes in the room. And it's just like, oh my God, shut up. Because there's like a million other people in this room who are so financially successful and don't have to be douchebags. Like there's so many. And it's like, no, he didn't have to do that. And it's just frustrating because it's, ugh.

[Natalie]

Have you kept in contact with any of the people who are kind of in your space coming up that have fallen off the Jenna Marbles, the Gabbie Hannah's?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Have you? Yeah.

[Natalie]

You have?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yeah. There's like, especially Jenna. I love Jenna Marbles. She's just like a sweet she got married.

[Natalie]

Yeah.

[Rosanna Pansino]

She, like, spends time with dogs. I heard volunteering. Last time I saw her was at Sophia and Tyler's wedding. Sophia, Nightgar, Tyler. They moved to North Carolina, so I haven't seen them in a minute. But we did text. We want to do a birthday get together soon. But it's. I do stay in touch with a lot of people, and luckily, half of my friends, even though I have stood up to Basically the unofficial CEO of YouTube, Mr. Leased, they remain friends with me publicly and openly. And I appreciate them for that. I really do. And I think in time, just the more people see of him, I think that people will just at least be able to understand my perspective a lot more. I think that that will definitely.

Do you think Jenna is someone who. I'm vaguely familiar with her story and her controversy. Do you think her mistakes or whatever people want to call them, do you think it was misrepresented out of context?

Or.

And. And. Or do you feel like if she wanted one, sounds like maybe she just doesn't deserves people's grace and a second chance.

I think everyone makes mistakes. I think what's different about something, individuals versus others, is some of them truly, deeply feel them. Like, when Jenna made a mistake and realized that, hey, she does comedy videos, her whole thing was comedy, comedy, music, comedy videos, and, like, taking care of her dogs. She loves her dogs, like, and her cute little family life. So when she makes a comedy video and she did something that was inappropriate and the Internet called, called her out for it, she was heartbroken, felt it on a deep level. Like, I think that she beat herself up about it. I think that it was like, how did I not know that I should have done this? In her mind, it's, you know, comedy. But realizing that that's not comedy has evolved so much over the last 10 years. Like, if you go back and watch the comedy movies in the 80s, like Ace Ventura, that didn't age well, like, I love Jim Carrey, but holy shit, that movie. Like, some of those jokes and just. Just that type of comedy that was so publicly accepted at the time is just so offensive now. It's, like, cancelable now. And so I think when I'm thinking of her as a comedian, making a. Like a joke for her, like, and realizing Miss the Mark hurt people's feelings, she took it to her soul and never returned. Like, she beat herself up about it. No one has probably beat herself up more than her. That is a person who actually remorseful, actually cares, and it broke her heart. And I would love for her to come back, but I don't think she would. It broke her heart. I think her heart broke that she broke other people's hearts. I think that that was a genuine. She's a really genuine person.

[Natalie]

For the first time, friends that outcasted you or have outcasted you with the whole Mr. Beast thing, is there a space where you let them back in always?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Yes. I love them. I literally text them all the time. I still invite them. I throw them out. All the love. Because I understand it. It's like high school, like a popularity thing. Like, it's like a peer pressure thing. It's not personal. And I do understand that. It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt my feelings any less, but I do understand it. And I also get it because, like, on YouTube, if your whole thing is YouTube, like, your whole business is built on YouTube. If I've upset the largest YouTuber on the platform, who owns a lot of other media outlets, like, his former president was an owner of the Streamys, like the Streamy Awards, and also owned, like, Tube Filter and like, they write articles. So just, like, just understand, understanding how deep the rabbit hole goes. So if I upset them, I get kicked out of all of these things. I understand that. And I don't. I don't hold anyone. I don't hold a grudge against anyone, because I totally get it. I would just encourage them to open your mind outside of YouTube. It's pretty great. I would say up until then, most all my friends were YouTubers. And now my friends are comedians, musicians, entrepreneurs. We have some just friends that are off of YouTube. So it doesn't matter. I'm able to kind of speak my piece and speak my mind, because the people who don't mind are the people I love and doesn't matter to them. And then the other people aren't even on YouTube. So it doesn't matter. Yeah, yeah. So it's kind of like.

And now you're. You're still a pioneer because now again, we're seeing so many creators, many from. From YouTube, you know, some from TikTok or whatever, who are now getting some of these. I don't want to say real opportunities, but, like, opportunities. Like back in the day when your agency was like, hey, it's this or that. Yeah, you can either be a YouTube star or you can be a star.

It's amazing. Now it's all coming together. It's so cool. Like, when Mark's iron lung went into movie theaters, I think he was only preparing it for it. To be in, like, 50 movie theaters. But then because fans were, like, demanding it of movie theaters, they opened, opened it up to, like, couple hundred. And then it performed so well.

Like, literally saving movie theaters.

Yeah, it like, it rivaled the Disney movie coming out. It like, it. That is wild. That's so exciting. That's so amazing. I do love seeing YouTubers getting their own shows. Like, I've even got to executive produce a TV show. So this is just an exciting time and a time that I always hoped for YouTubers. It's finally, like, happening. I will say that's the one thing that I'm really excited about. And even when I spoke up about the Beast games, a lot of people were saying I was speaking up to cancel it. Absolutely not. I was speaking up for safety. And I'm glad I did, because after you speak up, I just want to remind everyone. Guess what happened? Safe changes. Safe changes happen. That's. That's what, like, real changes happened on screen.

And you don't want to see anyone canceled. It sounds like you just want people to right their wrongs.

Yeah, it's interesting. I do also believe in a lot of grace, because we all make mistakes. Like, even growing up, you probably know we didn't have YouTube. There was, like, no phones with cameras on them. Like, I made the dumbest mistakes when I was in middle school and high school. Like, and no one was filming it. It wasn't being, like, posted online everywhere. Like, that just wasn't a thing. You were allowed to make mistakes, learn from them, grow. I do believe in that. I just. I've seen a lot of people who will make mistakes and then they just do better to not get caught publicly again versus actually fix the problem. And that's where I'm like, nope, no, no, time out. No, that's. That's not fixing it.

Yeah, no, I could keep going, but I'm sure you have to keep.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

I'm so sorry. I literally talked to you guys forever.

I know this is. You know, every time we. We have one of these interviews, it's always like, hope we have an interesting conversation. You know, it's like you. We generally have like 90 minute conversations. And yeah, this has been so much fun and so on. Easy on our part to have a conversation with you. And so thank you for being so open and allowing us to get to know you better and share with our audience all your interesting perspective on all things life, cooking, YouTube, you know, things like that. And, oh, one final question, because I wanted to ask you what is your point of view on live streaming? I'm just like big picture wise, culturally, you know, speaking to two parents with kids. Like what is your point of view on, on live streaming? And do you think it's generally healthy for our mental health?

Probably not. Probably not. Unless you're a very certain personality type. I think that there are maybe a few people where it would be a really good fit for. And the rest probably not. But it's a really interesting question because it's such a new form of entertainment. Like digital entertainment in general was so new just like 15 years ago and now then they did long form, short form and now live streaming, it's like its own genre. And that genre is what I worry about. It always is safety. That's the mama bear in me. I just always worry about that because I've seen just the worst things happen when people are livestreaming. So I about worry, worry about like safety because if there's a really popular live streamer and people know all where they're located, if there is anyone. Also if the live streamer is mentally well, but maybe one of the fans or somebody who follows them isn't mentally well, then your location is always public and you're very vulnerable and open. And if you don't have the right security in place, you know, then you're opening yourself up to a lot of safety issues. I think that, that even aware of that. Yeah, it's, it's, that's the really interesting thing. Like my girlfriend Ijustine, fellow og My blonde little hottie friend who does all tech stuff, she used to live stream and play video games and when she was live streaming she wrote about this in her book. Someone swatted her and it, she said it was just terrifying. Like you know, you, you.

[Nick Viall]

How is that?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Like I feel like that's become a thing and how does it. So easy to call.

Yeah, you can report it.

I assume there must be huge consequences to do that though.

There is if. Yeah, they can trace it. Yes, absolutely. And they do get in trouble. I think that it's just this weird satisfaction where you're watching someone's stream and knowing that you've done something where they're gonna, you know, get this.

But when you say get in trouble, is it like the streaker at a football game who goes to jail for a night and pays a couple thousand dollar fine or they go to trouble, prison for 12, 20 years.

I think it's more, much more serious.

I feel like that's a really big deal.

Yeah, I feel like it's much more serious. And I would encourage anyone who streams to contact your local law enforcement. That's what we've done to protect ourselves. We don't even stream, but we've just informed them where we live, who we are, and that if we're ever swatted, we have direct connection with.

Give us a call, let us know.

Yeah, they're going to call us first. They're still going to show up, but they're going to call us first and get on. Yeah, it happens a lot with the gamers who live stream because they're stationary. They're not going anywhere. They're at their computer. They're gaming. So people, for, you know that get that instant gratification, like that thrill of power, you know that. Yeah. Of doing that to others, knowing that. I don't understand because I would never want to do that. My instincts is like, save the turtles. Like, I'm literally like that. Like. Like, I'm, like, trying to, like, save a bumblebee from falling into our pool. Like, so. So I'm just. I don't operate that way. But for the people who are into that, I think live streaming can put the live streamer safety in danger. So my worry is always for live streaming is just safety. And I don't know much about the live streamers who are doing it now. I know that YouTube does it on their platform. And then there's also kids kick and twitch. I've just seen the worst behavior from some live streamers who run around. Like, the guy who got in a car accident and, like, kept filming. Jesus. He kept filming. And his passenger, his friend who was his camera guy, he was bleeding out of the head and he was, like, literally still filming him and checking the views, and he was like, the views are going crazy. And like, again, I'm not a psychologist, but that's psychotic. That's like a sociopath. Like, if I was his mother. I don't care what age you are, an Italian mom. I literally would run. I would. I would. I would Uber my ass down there. I would rip that phone from his hand. I would never.

Okay, I have one more question. Do you think the people in charge of these platforms are recognizing some of these risks and, And. And putting in the proper guardrails? Like, it seems insane and. And. But, like, there clearly is some kind of disconnect between, like, putting your own safety at risk, your friends, you know, David Dobrik comes to mind. That whole situation where people just, like, lost themselves, you know, and for the sake of views and I guess money.

Souls will always push the limits for money and power. Bottom line, they're always gonna take things to the extremist. It can go. So what I think that would help would be leaders of companies, especially on platforms, who actually enforce their. Their policies. I think that they could do that at any time and I am hopeful, I really hope that they start to do that more. They're loosening regulation. Like the new leader CEO of YouTube has loosened a lot of the rules. Like you can cuss more. I think you don't want to say the F word within the first like seven seconds of a video, but there's just a lot more looseness, which in some ways I appreciate. I love freedom, but I also don't like when it turns into danger. Like.

Yeah. I mean there's a. It's a whole weeds conversation about, you know, policing speech and things like that. But I think especially in the creator economy, incentivizing children.

Right.

To put themselves in danger is just.

I think it's wrong.

Gotta be. Be a way to like to protect.

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean it's a, it's a, it's a.

[Nick Viall]

It's a whole.

[Rosanna Pansino]

Another, you know, get into the weeds again about it because literally I could. It's. It's just multifaceted and the live streaming aspect is. So it's a new thing. And I think that they just keep pushing it to the max to see how far you can go with views without getting kicked off the platform or what is it, a temporary ban or getting sued. I think there's different levels that they just keep pushing it for money and for me it just feels so desperate. There's so many paths to success. You can sprint, you can jog, you can do a marathon. There's just so many paths that I feel sad for people who choose those kind of paths because it's so distracted and it's just miserable.

Yeah, well, you really are.

[Natalie]

You're so interesting to talk to and pick your brain. I feel like you're just a wealth knowledge. You just. I mean we. We learned about Wombat's poop being squares. I didn't think that was gonna come from today. And I'll never forget it. You know, I'll be dropping that at.

[Rosanna Pansino]

So many get togethers. Fun. I know for sure.

You guys, we gotta get together. We'd love to get.

Oh please.

I could host like a dinner night. We could like, we could do. We could bring a dish and we could have the weirdest fun dinner conversation.

Not to put you on the spot. And if you say no, I'll totally edit this out. But would you ever want to do an Ask Nick episode where you come on and give relationship advice for my audience with me? Yes. I feel like you'd be really good at that.

Oh, my gosh, I would love to. I will give them the best advice that I have.

Great.

The best things that I've ever learned. Okay, right on. Okay, right on.

[Natalie]

You guys, this is so much fun.

[Rosanna Pansino]

The time flew by. Like, what is happening?

Oh, my God.

I know. It really did. We blinked.

Rosanna, this has been so much fun.

Blink, blink, Same ditto. Right back at you.

[Nick Viall]

I usually say, where can people find you?

[Rosanna Pansino]

Follow you. But I feel like everyone.

Rosanna Pansino on everything everyone knows. Two of our podcasts, Rhodiculous, will be out maybe. Maybe in a couple weeks. We'll see.

[Natalie]

Congratulations on all your success. You truly have pioneered your way where you are. You are a standup woman, boss, ass, bitch. And I. I am very grateful to have met you and had this conversation with you.

[Rosanna Pansino]

So thank you. Oh, my gosh. I'm literally on my turning red now. That was great.