YouTube personality and podcaster Tana Mongeau has made waves in the creator space with impromptu remarks about fellow social media star Cody Ko having sex with her during a period in which they collaborated on videos when she was 17 years old and he was 25.
In a live recording of her podcast Cancelled before a Sacramento audience at the end of May, Mongeau faced a “hot seat” segment, answering a barrage of questions as quickly and honestly as possible. She revealed her least favorite city of the tour (New Orleans), recounted taking a brand partnership to promote a sketchy Juul charger that could be hooked up to a smartphone, and claimed that rapper Tyga is the most famous person she’s ever slept with. But it was an even more puerile inquiry that led to shock and scandalized reactions. Asked about the “smallest dick” she’s ever had sex with, she replied, “Oh, my God, no one look at me. Cody Ko.” As the room erupted in screams, she added, “I can say that, I was literally 17.” (In California, where Ko has lived since 2015, the age of consent is 18.)
While the tour had a policy against phone usage and recordings during shows, footage of the conversation still made it to TikTok and other social platforms, where it quickly spread, leading to condemnations of Ko as well as attacks on Mongeau’s character and credibility. A representative for Ko did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Mongeau’s allegation, while a spokesman for Mongeau said she had no further comment.
@self.detached Cancelled Podcast Tour Hot Seat Questions @Tana Mongeau @Brooke Schofield #cancelled #cancelledpodcast #liveshow #tanamongeau #codyko #brookeschofield
Rumors that the pair had slept together when Mongeau was underage have circulated for years, but this onstage allusion to an inappropriate relationship led fans of Ko to demand that the comedian, podcaster, and rapper — who married YouTuber Kelsey Kreppel last year, with the couple becoming parents in January — make a statement acknowledging Mongeau’s story. Weeks after it first started making the rounds, he has yet to address the topic.
Mongeau, meanwhile, has recently sought to clarify her feelings about what happened between them almost a decade ago. “To be 100 percent truthful, when I look back at the Cody situation, I definitely am, like, ‘Why was he doing that?'” she said in an episode of Cancelled last weekend. She recalled an event at which singer and influencer Gabbie Hanna pulled Ko aside and told him Mongeau was only 17, but the two left and hooked up anyway. “I can look at that and be like, ‘Why the fuck were you doing that?'” she said.
“But I don’t associate it or hold it with trauma,” Mongeau, who turned 26 on Monday, explained, “because I’m such a comparative person, where I’m like, so many worse things have happened to me. And that’s bad. But I genuinely feel that way.” She went on to describe how she grew up loving Ko’s content and was a fan excited to spend time with him. “And I understand where now, as a grown adult, that you can say: You were taken advantage of.”
Last week, Mongeau also guested on Just Trish, the podcast of friend Trisha Paytas, and discussed her past with Ko, which she again stressed was not traumatic for her. However, she said, “If I had a 17-year-old daughter or little sister” in the same situation, “I would kill.”
“But the thing that was actually really heartbreaking to me, and kind of crazy to me, is after it started going viral, seeing so many people not believing me,” Mongeau continued. “Being like, ‘It’s Tana, so who cares.’ And then I started feeling bad for so many other girls who maybe look up to me and want to speak their truth and see the way that people just don’t believe people.” Paytas and Mongeau agreed that they both tend to make light of darker moments in their lives as a way of coping with them. “You want to feel in control of your own narrative,” Mongeau said.
Ko fans on the dedicated subreddit r/codyko have been split on the allegation, with some doubting Mongeau’s account and others arguing that she was victimized. “Mostly makes me sad for her,” reads one recent comment. “I hope she gets a private apology.” In a top-trending thread, another redditor asked for YouTube alternatives to Ko and his Tiny Meat Gang Studios podcast network. “In light of the situations with Cody’s past, it’s difficult for me to look at him the same way,” they wrote. “I really enjoyed watching content like his, though. Any recommendations for YouTubers with content that is similar to his?”
On another subreddit, r/CodyKoUnfiltered, a forum meant to be a haven from the “censorship” of r/codyko, criticism of Ko was far more pointed, with users complaining that they have been banned from the main subreddit for bringing up Mongeau. “Putting the entire back and forth of whether it happened or not aside, the fact [Ko is] not even addressing all this has been extremely off-putting,” wrote one disillusioned person. “It’s pure ignorance. I’ve been a Cody fan for the longest time but I genuinely can’t bring myself to watch his videos anymore.”
Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone
