Joey Graceffa is not here for Gabbie Hanna’s drama.
The creator has taken to YouTube to address accusations that he and former boyfriend Daniel Preda mistreated Gabbie Hanna on the set of the YouTube Premium reality series Escape the Night.
Premiering in 2016, Escape the Night was a fantasy reality show in which cast members— mostly famous YouTube creators and influencers— followed a murder mystery-esque plotline similar to the board game Clue. In each episode, two guests got voted into a challenge, with the loser being eliminated via fictional death. Hosted and produced by Joey Graceffa, Escape the Night was the longest-running YouTube Premium series until its cancellation in 2020.
Joey has since spoken candidly in interviews about the challenges he faced with one season four cast member who was allegedly difficult on set. Despite refraining from mentioning her by name, fans figured out that it was Gabbie Hanna based on her previous behaviour online.
On June 27th, Gabbie released a YouTube video detailing her experience on the set of Escape the Night as part of a new series on her channel that seemingly aims to redeem her public image.
Though Gabbie admits that she “used to be really difficult to work with” because of mental health struggles, she goes on to accuse producers Joey and Daniel of mistreating her on the set— namely, they didn’t accommodate her dietary needs nor her costume requests.
Now, Joey and Daniel have responded to Gabbie’s claims— denying her accusations and sharing their side of the story.
“Its unfortunate to see myself & a show I worked extremely hard to produce for 4 years, painted in such a dark light in order to attempt another 15 minutes of internet relevancy,” Daniel tweeted. “At best, it’s manipulative & delusional. You want the truth, but the question is, can you handle mine?”
Joey also tweeted that Gabbie “always” plays the victim before dropping a YouTube video explaining the drama from his perspective titled ‘Gabbie Hanna Needs to Stop’.
In relation to Gabbie’s complaints about the foot on set, Joey shows emails and footage proving the cast and crew were sent medical paperwork days prior to their first day of filming which included dietary requirements. Joey says Gabbie did not fill out that paperwork until the first day on set hence why her needs were possibly not met. Despite that, Joey alleges production made a special trip to Whole Foods to buy Gabbie three meals that suited her needs.
Joey also addresses complaints about her costume, revealing via email screenshots that Gabbie did not show up to her costume fittings and thus the wardrobe department was left to design her costume with the limited information they were provided.
He also details Gabbie’s entitled attitude and says she seemed to believe her time was more valuable than other people’s time.
Several former cast members have also come forward in defense of Joey and Daniel, including Rosanna Pansino who shared a lengthy Twitter note insisting the producers were “extremely patient & accommodating” and the crew was “very professional, organized, and hardworking”.
She went on to challenge Gabbie’s claims which support Joey’s statements.
Gabbie has since responded to the backlash, tweeting that it’s “challenging” to not respond to “every lie that comes my way”. She goes on to say that the purpose of this series on her channel— in which she relives her past drama and attempts to change the narrative— was to “respond to public attacks with evidence so i don’t feel the need to defend myself on twitter”.
“i knew it would come with backlash & consequences. but the point was just to tell my side of the stories people have told about me and to move on from this chapter having said my piece,” she finished.
Gabbie also changed her Twitter name to “the common denominator” after fans and commentary channels have insisted she be more introspective about the role she played in past scandals.