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YouTuber JoCat recently announced that he was taking an ‘indefinite break’ from uploading content online in the aftermath of his I Like Girls song controversy. The content creator reportedly garnered immense backlash after releasing his own rendition of Lizzo’s popular Boys track. After being reportedly doxxed and harassed online, he took the decision to leave the internet, leaving fans saddened.
Disclaimer: This article contains song lyircs that are mature in nature. Readers' discretion is advised.
In April 2021, JoCat, whose real name is Joseph Catalanello, released a song titled I Like Girls. According to his most recent statement, the track was inspired by Lizzo’s Boys song which he heard in Hakkim Animation’s video.
The 35-second song, released by JoCat, included the lyrics:
“I like big girls/ pretty kitty girls/ really witty girls/ singing ditty girls/ I like the leggy girls/ with the nice thighs/ I like a good chest/ No matter what size.”
The Final Fantasy XIV gamer goes on to describe popular female gaming and series characters of all shapes and sizes in the song.
Despite the track initially receiving praise, it went on to garner backlash in the years to come. Some have deemed it as a track that objectifies women while others have simply found it “cringe.” In response to the hate, JoCat released a statement on December 18, announcing:
“I’m going to be taking an indefinite break from making content.”
Why did netizens dislike JoCat’s I Like Girls song? Ardent fans express disappointment over YouTuber’s statement
Despite the song garnering over 11 million views on YouTube, it has left many divided. According to YouTube Fandom, “alternative feminists” were disturbed by the track as it came off as Catalanello being a s*xual harasser and manipulator. It seems like many were displeased to hear the content creator express how attractive women are irrespective of their size.
Meanwhile, the “alpha male” community were reportedly displeased with the song by opining that it was part of the “male loneliness epidemic.” JoCat was also reportedly hurled with homophobic comments despite not being gay.
The Mary Sue also reported that several Twitter users found the song “cringey” in nature.
Although the YouTuber expressed in his statement that the song was supposed to simply be a “fun project to animate” and solely meant for his “YouTube audience,” it went on to garner hate from those outside of his target reach, leading to them making “assumptions about my character, my history, my beliefs, my relationships and all those of my partner.”
JoCat also revealed that his family received threats of violence and were doxxed as well.
In light of him expressing that he was leaving the online community, many took to the internet to express turmoil over the matter at hand:
What did JoCat say in his statement?
On December 18, Catalanello uploaded a statement on his official website announcing that the I Like Girls song was taken from a livestream about Baldur’s Gate 3 he took part in in October 2020.
The 27-year-old also expressed that he was encouraged by his friends to take on the project of creating the track with a music video. Although it received praise, he also reportedly received immense hate on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Twitch. He said in his statement:
“Granted, a lot of this has been primarily on twitter, where I could simply log off and ignore the haters, but no small amount has leaked into other parts of my regular day to day that is harder to ignore - private DMs over discord and twitch, suspicious packages being sent to my family.”
He ended his statement by saying that he did not wish to upset his followers and was simply trying to create something “fun.” He went on to add that he will be continuing to work on his JOmega and House of Elynthi charities until they are finished but will be taking an “indefinite break from posting anything online.”
