Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (Russian: Вита́лий Здорове́цкий; IPA: [vʲɪˈtalʲɪj zdərɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪj] ( listen); born March 8,
1992), better known by his YouTube username VitalyzdTv, is a Russian-born YouTube personality whose main channel videos, as of June 2016, have garnered more than 1 billion views and over 9 million subscribers, while his vlog channel has more than 1.2 billion views and 9.1 million subscribers.
Early Life
Zdorovetskiy was born in Murmansk, Russia on March 8, 1992, and moved to Odessa, Ukraine shortly after, where he was raised. Later, his family immigrated to Florida, where Zdorovetskiy attended Park Vista Community High School for two years.
Zdorovetskiy attempted to become a professional skateboarder at an early age but gave up due to injuries.[3] Just shortly after turning 18, Zdorovetskiy took part in an adult film scene with pornographic actress Diamond Kitty for the adult entertainment company Bang Bros in 2011.
Career
In 2012, Zdorovetskiy received his first significant success, with the video "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" Inspired by the cannibal attack of a homeless man in Miami in May 2012, Zdorovetskiy dressed up as a zombie and traveled to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami to scare random bystanders. By January 2015 the "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" had been viewed more than 30 million times.[3] A sequel video prank was produced in Columbus, Ohio. The video got five million views within a week on YouTube.[4]
On July 16, 2012, Zdorovetskiy and cameraman Jonathan Vanegas filmed the "Russian Hitman Prank". As part of the prank, Zdorovetskiy approached a Boca Raton man and informed him they had 60 seconds to get away from a briefcase he placed on the ground. After Zdorovetskiy revealed the whole thing to be a prank and that there was a hidden camera nearby, the man started attacking him and his partner and called the police. Zdorovetskiy was arrested by Boca Raton police department,[5] on charges of threatening to detonate a bomb. At the time of the prank Zdorovetskiy's YouTube channel had only about 100,000 subscribers, but after the incident his channel grew to over four million subscribers within just over a year.[6]
On July 20, 2013, Zdorovetskiy released the video "Extreme Homeless Man Makeover", in which he befriends a homeless man named Martin and provides him with new clothes and a hotel room. The video posting resulted in a job offer that Martin accepted.[7] He was also reunited with his wife. The project also included an attempt to raise money to have Martin's teeth fixed, for which Zdorovetskiy was able to raise about $10,000 online. The fundraising campaign was canceled before it was completed, because of Zdorovetskiy's criminal history. However, Zdorovetskiy received several offers from surgeons to do the dental work for free.[8] The surgery and the video story was featured on television news casts including the Good Day LA Fox morning show.[9]
His "Gold Digger Prank", featuring a woman who rebuffs his advances until she believes he drives a Lamborghini Gallardo sports car,[10] generated more than 18 million views in its first week of posting,[11] making VitalyzdTV the third most watched YouTube channel in the world during that week with over 45 million views.[12]
On October 15, 2014, Zdorovetskiy pulled a prank which involved himself dressing up as Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, pretending to saw off the legs of Hanhart syndrome patient Nick Santonastasso with a chainsaw in front of unsuspecting witnesses.[13] The prank went viral, receiving over 30 million views in 3 weeks.
On May 25, 2016 Zdorovetskiy was arrested for trespassing after climbing the Hollywood Sign, as part of a video stunt.[14]
On June 10, 2016, Zdorovetskiy was again arrested for streaking during the NBA Finals game 4 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors with authorities quickly apprehending and arresting the YouTuber.[15]
On October 4, 2016, Vitaly crashed the stage of the 6th Annual Streamy Awards and announced "nobody expected to see me here, but what about my soft dick?" and proceeded to lower his pants, a reference to a pornographic movie he participated in. He walked off to silence and scattered boos and hisses.
Personal Life
Zdorovetskiy currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his mother. He is in a movie with his friends Roman Atwood and Dennis Roady, both fellow YouTube pranksters. In November 2015, Lionsgate officially acquired worldwide distribution rights for Natural Born Pranksters.