Roman Atwood

Roman Bernard Atwood (born May 28, 1983) is an American YouTube personality and prankster. He is best known for his vlogs, where he posts updates about his life. His vlogging channel, "RomanAtwoodVlogs", has a total of 5 billion views and 15 million subscribers. He also has another YouTube channel called "RomanAtwood", where he used to post prank videos. The channel has been inactive since 2016. His pranks have gained over 1.4 billion views and 10.4 million subscribers. He became the second YouTuber after Germán Garmendia to receive two Diamond Play Buttons for his two channels.

Roman Atwood
Personal information
BornRoman Bernard Atwood
(1983-05-28) May 28, 1983
Millersport, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationYouTube personality, comedian, vlogger
Spouse(s)
Shanna Riley
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2008)​

Brittney Smith
​
(m. 2018)​
Websiteromanatwood.com
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2009–present
GenreComedy, pranks
Subscribers15.4 million (RomanAtwoodVlogs)
10.5 million (RomanAtwood)
Updated: November 2020
Total views5.29 billion (RomanAtwoodVlogs)
1.53 billion (RomanAtwood)
Updated: November 2020
NetworkStudio71
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers 2012
1,000,000 subscribers 2013
10,000,000 subscribers 2016
Updated: November 8, 2020

Personal life

Born in Millersport, Ohio, Atwood has been filming and producing videos since high school. He was born to Curt Dale Atwood and Susan Atwood. He began his independent career by producing a series of DVDs called "The Nerd Herd" which he sold at the Warped Tour in 2006.[1] Atwood has also worked on various film projects and commercials in Columbus, Ohio until 2010, when he decided to focus on his passion of comedy and created the YouTube channel "Sketch Empire".

Prior to his YouTube career, he worked at his family's rope factory called "Atwood Rope".[2] In 2001, he married Shanna Riley, who gave birth to Atwood's first son, Noah Vaughn Atwood (born October 18, 2004).[3] In 2008, after his wife cheated on him with a friend while on vacation, he filed for a divorce.[4]

In 2013, Atwood founded his own merchandise line called "Smile More", selling T-shirts, hoodies, bracelets and other items.

He currently resides in his hometown with his wife Brittney Smith-Atwood, with whom he has a second son, Kane Alexander Atwood (born October 23, 2011) and daughter, Cora Atwood (born July 16, 2017).[5] Atwood met Smith at the wedding of his friend, Chase Gilroy, where Roman was his best man in 2008. Smith is the sister of Gilroy's wife, Veronica, and the two started dating from there. Atwood proposed to Smith on April 30, 2018, and the two married on July 27, 2018, in Maui, Hawaii.[6]

On May 29, 2019, Atwood's mother, Susan Atwood, died unexpectedly after a tragic accident while on vacation with the entire Atwood family. Atwood subsequently took time out from his social media activity to grieve for his mother.[7]

After uploading a video on New Year's Eve of 2019, Atwood underwent a large period of inactivity on social media for an undisclosed reason. He uploaded a video on August 18, 2020, in which he greeted his fans and stated that while he could not disclose the reason for his absence, he wanted to reassure fans that he and his family were okay, and that several conspiracy-style videos that had been uploaded by fans and content creators to YouTube discussing his absence were all inaccurate.[8] Two days later on August 20, the Atwoods revealed that they were expecting a fourth child, though they added it was not the reason for their absence.[9]

On January 11, 2021, Atwood uploaded a video titled "Welcome to the world!" in which he and Brittney revealed that their son, Knox Atwood, was born five days earlier on January 6, weighing in at just under 9lbs. [10]

Career

Plastic Ball Prank

In this video, Atwood fills his house with plastic balls 2.5 ft high, turning it into a massive ball pit. This video was uploaded on January 18, 2015, and currently has almost 86 million views. This video was noticed by Nissan, who gave him a 2015 Nissan GTR in exchange to use his video in the "WithDad" campaign during their half-time advert at Super Bowl XLIX. This was awarded the best "Brand Campaign" for the 5th Streamy Awards.[11]

Anniversary Prank

His video "Anniversary Prank Backfires!!" was posted on November 20, 2013, and currently has over 86 million views. It features Atwood pranking Smith on their five-year dating anniversary by confessing that he has cheated on her. The prank backfires when she sees the camera beforehand and pranks him back by pretending that she has cheated on him too. She only reveals her own prank after a few seconds of Atwood reacting badly to the news. At the end of the video, Smith says "I thought you were going to propose".[12]

Killing My Kid Prank

A prank titled "Killing My Own Kid PRANK!!", posted on November 30, 2014, and currently has over 50 million views. The video shows Atwood pranking Smith by throwing a mannequin in a Spider-Man costume, pretending it was their son Kane. When Smith runs to the mannequin, she quickly pulls off its mask, realizing it was not Kane, and in fact the mannequin. At this point, she breaks down into tears as Atwood enters the room snickering at her. She then storms off, but returns when Atwood asks her "Are you really that mad?" She then starts shouting at him and tells him he's "sleeping on the couch".[13] The prank was referenced during Atwood and Smith's appearance on the reality TV series Tanked, where Smith revealed that Atwood did in fact sleep on the couch that night.

ATM prank and freedom of expression case

In March 2014, Roman, along with his accomplices, were arrested by the Columbus Police Department for inducing panic and disorderly conduct during the filming of a prank where he pretended to rob an ATM in public. He was released on bail and was summoned to court.[14] The case was widely contested, with his fans showing up to court to support and watch the case. As a defendant, he won the case on the basis of expression of art and freedom of speech, and the case was settled.[15]

Natural Born Pranksters

In 2016, Atwood, Vitaly Zdorovetskiy and Dennis Roady released a film produced by Lionsgate, called Natural Born Pranksters[16][17] which has received little critical attention. Neither Rotten Tomatoes[18] nor Metacritic[19] have yet aggregated enough reviews to even give the film a score.

Tour

In 2016, Atwood and fellow YouTuber Yousef Erakat started a worldwide tour called "Roman vs. Fousey".[20] They have performed shows in the United States, Canada and the UK.[21]

Awards and nominations
Year Work Category Award Result Ref.
2014 Roman Atwood Pranks 4th Streamy Awards Nominated [22]
2015 Crazy Plastic Ball Prank #WithDad, Roman Atwood (Nissan) Brand Campaign 5th Streamy Awards Won [23]
2016 Roman Atwood YouTube Comedian 8th Shorty Awards Won [24]
Entertainer of the Year 6th Streamy Awards Nominated [25]

References
  1. "the nerd herd Video by roman atwood on Myspace". Myspace. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  2. "Atwood Rope MFG : Atwood Rope MFG : Arm Rope, Arbor, Utility, Solid Braid, Dozer". Atwoodrope.net. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  3. "Noah Vaughn Atwood (b. 2004)". birth-records.mooseroots.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  4. TheGeektrick (May 2, 2014), Roman Atwood Speech, archived from the original on June 8, 2016, retrieved August 19, 2016
  5. RomanAtwoodVlogs (November 1, 2016), WE ARE FINALLY HAVING A BABY!!, archived from the original on November 2, 2016, retrieved November 5, 2016
  6. "Roman Atwood & Brittney Smith tie the knot!". GoldCrownMag. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  7. Atwood, Roman (May 30, 2019). "This hurts so much.pic.twitter.com/PL3dMVIm1y". @RomanAtwood. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  8. "We Will Never Recover - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  9. "We Can't Hide This Anymore! - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  10. "Welcome To The World - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. "5th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  12. "Anniversary Prank Backfires!!". Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014 – via YouTube.
  13. "Killing My Own Kid PRANK!!". Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015 – via YouTube.
  14. "Famous Prankster Arrested, Video Confiscated for 'Evidence'". Activist Post. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  15. "Popular Youtube Pranksters RomanAtwood & VitalyzdTv Arrested For Inducing Panic & Disorderly Conduct Over ATM Prank". WORLDSTARHIPHOP. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  16. "Natural Born Pranksters the Movie: Official Site for News & Updates - NaturalBornPranksters.com". naturalbornpranksters.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  17. Atwood, Roman; Pluimer, Ben (April 1, 2016), Natural Born Pranksters, archived from the original on August 10, 2018, retrieved March 31, 2016
  18. "Natural Born Pranksters". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  19. "Natural Born Pranksters". metacritic. Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  20. "YouTube stars Roman Atwood and FouseyTUBE are going on tour". Mashable. Mashable, Inc. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  21. "YouTube Pranksters Roman Atwood, FouseyTUBE Join Forces For Five-City Tour". Tubefilter. Tubefilter, Inc. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  22. "4th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  23. "5th Annual Winners". Streamys. Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  24. Ngak, Chenda (April 11, 2016). "Shorty Awards 2016 Best YouTube Comedian". Shorty Awards. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  25. "6th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamys. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
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