Whatever Happened to Jay Versace, the Funny Internet Kid

Jay Versace has millions of views and followers across social media because of his funny skits in which he sometimes plays an overly entitled, spoiled version of himself. Known for his sarcastic grin and biting comments, Jay once ruled the internet from TikTok to Vine to Facebook. Seemingly, overnight, he disappeared, and people are wondering if this worst has happened.

What Happened

Jay Versace is known for his classic comedy videos, some of which featured his family members, but he also made skits of his own characters embodying various archetypes.

In a popular skit called “If Hoteps Made a Reality Show,” Jay plays two characters. The characters seem to be two pro-Black characters, likely Muslims, in a somewhat heated conversation. Or they could be Egyptians. Either way, Brother One starts off with “Peace, Peace, King” to address Brother Two, who responds in kind. This beginning is hilarious, since it accurately captures how pro-Black men tend to greet each other, even when there’s a problem between them.

Brother One reveals that he has heard that Brother Two has been using “root chakras” on Brother One’s wife. “Root chakras” are responsible for helping you reconnect with the Earth and your body to feel more grounded, secure and in control of your own life. In essence, Brother One is accusing the other one of trying to take his wife from him.

Brother Two responds by noting “The old me would have cleaned your mouth straight out.” Brother One responds with wide eyes, and Brother One pauses before continuing. The conversation devolves into an argument, with Brother One accusing Brother Two of being “three neck [and] two back.” Brother One also compares the other to pork rinds, something despised in the Muslim community. The argument ends with Brother Two giving Brother One some straightforward tips on how Brother One can keep his wife. He calls Brother One “sticks and bones.”

Published August 24, 2019, “If Hoteps Made a Reality Show” is one of the last skits Jay posted to his Facebook page. Since then, this video has gotten over half a million views and nine thousand shares. This page has 1.5 million followers, with a private list of who the page is following.

Where Jay is Now

Jay Versace has had a few endeavors around music, writing music and acting. His Fullscreen web series Jay Versace is Stuck in the 90s was received well by critics and fans alike. It ended up being nominated for Best Web Series at the 10th Shorty Awards. Jay was supposed to star in an eight-part web series called My Wizard and Me, but that didn’t happen. From there, Jay seemingly faded from the spotlight, but he’s since begun a successful music producing and writing career.

In 2018, Jay began experimenting with music production. He started posting lowfi instrumentals he’d made. They were received well by his audience.

Later, Jay proposed working together with rapper Westside Gunn. Eventually, he used one of Jay’s songs on his albums, and this brought more attention to Jay. This led to Jay producing an entire mixtape by rapper Boldy James, who called the album The Versace Tape. The rest is history.

The Takeaway

Jay Versace is doing extremely well. Although he brought us laughs through Vines and other videos posted across social media, he’s seemingly found his calling. He’s gone from making us laugh to making listeners feel. He’s taken an approach that’s behind the camera, if you will. He might not make any more videos, but he hasn’t deleted the ones he did. And there are copies anyhow. We’ll always be able to look back and have a laugh with Jay. Let’s be thankful that he gifted us an era.

This article was written by Jermaine Reed, MFA, the Editor-in-Chief of The Reeders Block. He also works an Adjunct College Professor. Join the email list to get notifications on new blog posts and books. This article is 100% human-written. And remember, if you see an error, that’s what makes us human. Subscribe and share.