Why Don’t Collab Houses Last?
Collab houses allow young influencers to create content together and propel their careers. But business and relationship problems often lead to their downfalls.
In the past few days, drama has erupted surrounding some of TikTok’s biggest creators and their respective collab houses, involving both the Hype House and Sway LA. It centers around several cheating scandals between house members and is even being dubbed “World War Tea.” People are leaving the houses, breaking up, subtweeting, unfollowing each other, and it seems that everything is going up in flames.
While the future of both the Hype House and Sway LA remains unknown, many think that they are on the brink of downfall and that they will soon either become totally engulfed by controversy, or worse, become irrelevant.
Many fans following the situation are feeling a sense of deja vu, likening what’s happening now to the drama that erupted in collab houses Team 10 and the Clout House a few years ago and their respective declines.
Collab houses have, in recent years, become a big way that people on the brink of internet fame network, create content, and try to become known in the industry. But in houses full of young, ambitious stars creating content, dating, and partying, a pattern is emerging — which is these’ houses inevitable downfalls.
The main reason many young influencers join collab houses is to create content with others — whether that be YouTube vlogs or dances on TikTok — which they seem to have a natural talent for. The problem is, many times collab houses will have a hard time keeping up with the business side of things, setting up investors, meetings, brand deals, legal counsel, etc. that are required to manage them. As founder and CEO of Team 10 Jake Paul described in an interview, managing talent can be incredibly tough. He states, “There was so much going on that I couldn’t control everything…” There “wasn’t the right business team surrounding the talent.”
Earlier this year, a similar business-related dispute around management emerged within the Hype House. Fitness influencer and model Daisy Keech claimed that she had been undermined by Hype House cofounder Thomas Petrou in making business decisions and wasn’t getting due credit for her work. She left to found her own collab house, called Clubhouse BH (Beverly Hills).
Additionally, not everyone in a collab house has the same vision and idea of what success looks like. Paul states that he wanted Team 10 to become as successful as possible, with the attitude of “Content every day, let’s grind, let’s make this a $200 million dollar company.” But not everyone who was in Team 10 — and in other collab houses — has such a business-focused mindset, and many inhabitants may see them as more of an opportunity for partying and socializing rather than one for work and making business decisions.
Since collab houses usually consist of very young people — from teens to people in their early 20s — all living and creating together, drama inevitably erupts between those who are dating, friends, etc., which can then affect how the house operates. Paul stated how such real-world factors —“This person’s actually in a relationship with this person, and then they get into fights… they’re falling in love, they’re breaking up…” — was a factor in the decline of Team 10.
It’s also hard for collab houses to remain relevant when, in this day and age, so much is happening online and new internet stars are constantly emerging. Most collab houses will “blow up” after some particular moment of hype (no pun intended) that gets people watching and fuels their later growth. For Team 10, this moment was their 2017 music video and song called “It’s Everyday Bro,” which sent the internet into a frenzy due to its catchy tune, boastful lyrics, and meme potential. The video, which currently has 269 million views, launched Jake Paul and the rest of Team 10 into the internet mainstream.
I was also, in part, a diss track against Paul’s ex-girlfriend Alissa Violet. She and YouTuber RiceGum later responded with a diss track of their own, appropriately titled “It’s EveryNight Sis,” which helped their own collab house, cofounded with FaZe Banks, called the “Clout House” (the collective itself was called the “Clout Gang”) later blow up.
Back in the Team 10 House, drama was unfolding. There were accusations of a toxic culture and bullying, and person after person began to leave, making sure to post a “Why I Left Team 10” YouTube video to signal their departure. Over the next several months, there was a cycle of people joining and then leaving.
The Clout Gang too, having moved out of the Clout House, seems to have disbanded.
The Hype House, which blew up because of a video and photoshoot they posted back in late 2019, could be heading down the same path as the previous generation of collab houses. They are facing drama and scandals, and many have already left — such as Keech, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio ( Charli is currently the most-followed person on the app and her and her sister are currently pursuing other opportunities), and there’s been speculation that dancer Addison Rae has left as well. Clubhouse BH too has seen several members leave recently. And many are saying that the Sway House is dying as well (if it’s not already dead).
When a collab house is started, people get really invested in the people involved. So when there’s a rapid cycling of people entering and leaving, people often tend to lose that sense of connection with the house. Additionally, while drama and tea can be captivating at first, if it’s something that continues on, people can get bored. This was the case for Team 10, which eventually saw people just not wanting to keep up anymore.
But even though collab houses don’t last forever, they are pretty useful to jumpstart young creator’s careers, encourage them to make content, and get them started in the industry. In fact, in the Los Angeles TikTok scene, almost anyone who’s anyone has at one time or another been involved in a collab house.
Oh, and one more thing. It seems that Team 10, formerly in the collab house graveyard, may be trying to come back.
