Onision - Net Worth $5 Million

November 20, 2017

Gregory James Jackson was born November 14, 1981 in Seattle, WA. Known by his YouTube username Onision, is an American YouTuber and internet personality. He is most recognizable in mainstream media as the creator of the "Banana Song (I'm A Banana)," which has amassed over 51 million views, and over 500,000 likes. On YouTube, Greg is known as a controversial content creator – known popularly as YouTube's Perfect Villain - due to his handling of controversial matters in his videos, feuding with other YouTubers, showcasing much of his personal life in his videos, and having a firm and strong system of beliefs that he has been known to convey in what can be considered an irrational manner.

A recurring theme in Greg's videos has been his struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts or behaviors throughout his life. He has said that he was deeply depressed and suicidal in high school, from which he recovered. He has gone on record stating that he was again depressed and having suicidal thoughts in his adult life, as a result of his on-going struggle with his personal life. He recounts one story where he held a gun to his head while serving in the Air Force. Having recovered from depression multiple times, he uses his experience aid others as a peer advisor. Greg is very close with his mother, who has appeared in videos of his, including "Ghosts Caught On Camera". Greg was an airman in the United States Air Force, from which he quit, citing its conflict with his liberal views.

His first channel was Onision, made back in 2006. In his earliest videos, Greg would refer to himself by Onision, though he has said he initially planned on referring to himself as and being referred to as "Greg." Despite this, the name Onision stuck with him, and it has been his identity since. Greg created his second channel, OnisionArchive, in 2008. He never went into detail about the nature of this second channel when he started it, but it was used as a secondary channel in the same way many YouTubers utilized secondary channels at the time; as a platform for additional content, as well as to maximize on the earning power of his audience via advertisements. As of 2009, the OnisionArchive channel has been used in the way its name suggests; as a user archive.

In 2009, Greg created the channel OnisionSpeaks (known by him and fans simply as Speaks), as a charity effort to support awareness of vegetarianism. Shortly after its conception, however, the OnisionSpeaks channel became his primary self-help and peer-advisory channel. Because of its nature, the channel has been a source of controversy for Greg, due in part to users accusing him of assigning himself as a professional on the matter of depression and suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

Despite these accusations, Greg has never conveyed that he believes himself to be of expert help, and has often urged viewers to understand that he can only offer advice. In 2011, Greg implemented another channel, called OnisionEncore, in which he primarily video blogs. The OnisionEncore channel has the most inconsistent upload schedule of all Jackson's channels, and is not considered by him or fans as a primary channel of his. In 2012, Greg created his most recent channel UhOhBro, on which he uploads videos of him searching for and reacting in real-time to various topics, which he searches for on the search engine Google. The UhOhBro channel was his most updated channel in 2012, and continues to see a high volume of uploads on a regular basis.

Greg has written two novels that are a mixture of real events and fictional ones. "Stones To Abbigale" was published on March 29th, 2015. It follows James who is described as a "better version" of Greg and exploring themes of school shootings and love. The original cover was replaced due to it depicting an inappropriate amount of blood. His second novel "This Is Why I Hate You" was published on 11th September 2015 and is a darker book compared to his first. It has many similarities to Greg's own experiences in the Air Force and is written in a diary form style. Both of his books have been critiqued for having many spelling and grammar errors due to a lack of professional editors, although it is said by Onision in a video that he published the rough drafts of his books rather than the edited version. Whether it truly was an accident was never clarified. Throughout his YouTube career, Jackson has been known as one of the most controversial YouTubers on the site. This is credited mostly to aspects of his person or his videos throughout his career: his brash delivery of certain viewpoints he has (or has had), his feuding with various other users, his showcasing of deeply private aspects of his personal life, and his handling of certain subjects when communicating with his audience.

In January 2012, allegations arose that Jackson had raped or had otherwise forced a particular sexual act upon Adrienne Jourgansen while the two had dated in 2011. These allegations arose as early as mid-2011, but were once again circulated when Jourgansen made a statement that she felt "forced into [having sex] with [Jackson]." In the same statement, Jourgansen also claims that Jackson had forced her into having intercourse without the use of condom. Soon after, Jackson denied the allegations, stating that the accusers had misinterpreted what Jourgansen was saying in her statement. This was followed by a string of highly controversial videos in which Jackson publicly made statements about Jourgansen, and infamously commented that Jourgansen had sex with more than 20 people before him, making her a "slut" and "incapable of being raped."

These statements lead to media headlines, resulting in over 1,000 user videos criticizing Jackson, and over 15,000 YouTube users petitioning either his YouTube Partnership being revoked, or his being banned from the portal entirely, or both. In the wake of the controversy, Jackson lost over 24,000 subscribers on January 13, 2012, which took him approximately six months to re-accumulate. After receiving numerous death threats aimed at Jackson, as well as front-office members of VidCon if they let Jackson attend, VidCon opted to bar Jackson from their 2012 event, citing that "if it is possible [Jackson] will not be safe, we will not let [him] come."

This saw response from Jackson, in which he posted to Facebook, prompting those who had wanted to see him at the event should "demand a refund." Jackson later relieved in "Why People Hate Onision" uploaded in 2013 saying that he apologised to Jourgansen, and she accepted the apology, she later sent an email offering him friendship also telling him she was moving to his area and they should hang out. Which by the way, that wasnt true, as he explains is thought about it in one of his videos.