Zdorovetskiy was born Vitali Aleksandrovich Zdorovetskiy in 1992 in Murmansk, Russia. As a child, he lived in Odesa, Ukraine. Zdorovetskiy and his mother immigrated to the United States when he was 14, being allowed to keep his Russian citizenship and legally removing his patriarchal name.[6]
Zdorovetskiy attempted to become a professional skateboarder at an early age but quit due to injuries. In the video titled "Why I Did Porn!", he tells his audience he got his first job at age 15 as a garbage collector making $5.00 an hour. His second job was a sign-spinner dressed as Uncle Sam making $20 for 3 hours of work. After that, Vitaly picked up a job as a bus boy at a restaurant in Miami, Florida. Shortly after turning 18, Zdorovetskiy took part in an adult film scene with pornographic actress Diamond Kitty for the adult entertainment company Bang Bros in 2011.[7]
Career
Pranks
In 2012, Zdorovetskiy received his first significant success, with the video "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" Inspired by the cannibal attack of a homeless man in Miami in May 2012, he dressed up as a zombie and traveled to some of the poorest neighborhoods in Miami to scare random bystanders.[7] The video, in which Zdorovetskiy chased mostly Black people, was described by some viewers as a racist attempt to humiliate the local black community.[8][9] Zdorovetskiy had been previously accused of humiliating black people in his videos after he published a prank video in which he accused a black man of being involved in a robbery. In the same video, Zdorovetskiy approached three black males, accused them of crimes and ordered them to circle around a pole to prove their innocence. After the video was recorded, Zdorovetskiy was arrested on two counts of impersonating a police officer.[9]
On June 16, 2012, Zdorovetskiy and cameraman Jonathan Vanegas filmed the "Russian Hitman Prank". As part of the prank, Zdorovetskiy approached a Boca Raton Resort man and informed him they had 60 seconds to get away from a briefcase he placed on the ground. After Zdorovetskiy revealed the whole thing to be a prank and that there was a hidden camera nearby, the man started attacking him and his partner and called the police. Zdorovetskiy was arrested by Boca Raton police department, facing a maximum of 15 years in prison on charges related to bomb threats. The charges were eventually dismissed.[5][10]
On July 20, 2013, Zdorovetskiy released the video "Extreme Homeless Man Makeover", in which he befriends a homeless man named Martin and provides him with new clothes and a hotel room. The video posting resulted in a job offer that Martin accepted.[11] He was also reunited with his wife. The project also included an attempt to raise money to have Martin's teeth fixed, for which Zdorovetskiy was able to raise about $10,000 online. The fundraising campaign was canceled before it was completed, because of Zdorovetskiy's criminal history. However, Zdorovetskiy received several offers from surgeons to do the dental work for free.[12] The surgery and the video story was featured on television news casts including the Good Day LA Fox morning show.[13]
His 2013 "Gold Digger Prank", featuring a woman who rejects his advances until she believes he drives a Lamborghini Gallardo sports car, generated more than 18 million views in its first week of posting.[14] On October 15, 2014, Zdorovetskiy pulled a prank which involved himself dressing up as Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, pretending to saw off the legs of Hanhart syndrome patient Nick Santonastasso with a chainsaw in front of unsuspecting witnesses.[15] While being in Croatia in 2015, he pranked former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader, while Sanader was leaving Remetinec prison where he was serving his sentence for corruption charges by jumping on Sanader's car while he and his lawyers were inside.[16]
Zdorovetskiy has been accused of staging his YouTube pranks.[17][18] In November 2015, Lionsgate officially acquired worldwide distribution rights for a film in which Zdorovetskiy starred, Natural Born Pranksters.[19]
Publicity stunts and arrests
Mugshot of Zdorovetskiy's arrest under the aggravated battery charge, 2020[20][4]
In January 2020, Zdorovetskiy was arrested and spent five days in an Egyptian jail after climbing the Pyramids of Giza.[25] In April of the same year, he was arrested and later charged for aggravated battery by Miami Beach Police. According to law-enforcement, Zdorovetskiy allegedly tackled a female jogger and struck her multiple times in the head and chest, leaving her with a 2-inch cut above her right eye that required stitches. The woman stated that she did not know who he was.[4] Zdorovetskiy was released from custody after posting a $7,500 bond.[26]
Vigilantism
Zdorovetskiy has livestreamed multiple vigilante operations performed by himself and other online celebrities on Kick. During one stream alongside controversial online celebrity Sneako, he lured a person, who he alleged had been having sexual conversations with a fictional person under the age of 18, into an apartment that he was renting. After Zdorovetskiy surprised the man, coming out of the back room, he decided not to call the police and instead started shaving the person's hair and eyebrows in a way that, Zdorovetskiy said, made him look similar to a clown, before telling the man that he could leave the apartment if he ate his own pubic hair. No arrests were made related to the incident.[27][8]
Zdorovetskiy performed another vigilante operation in May 2024 in Southwest Miami-Dade, during which he surprised a person he had accused of sexual misconduct with a fake alligator. The sting operation was criticized by local police authorities, Miami-Dade Police Department detective Andre Martin stated that "You have no idea what these people are capable of when they are inserted into desperate situations... You don't know if they’re armed with weapons, you don't know what they're willing to do."[28] In the same month, a group including Zdorovetskiy and other vigilantes publicly accused a middle-aged man of attempting to meet with a 15-year-old minor for sex in a Publix store. The group pursued the man while blasting an emergency sound with their megaphone as he cringed and covered his ears. They were eventually ushered out of the facility by the City of Miami police and no arrests related to the incident was made.[8]
He collaborated with rapper YG in another July vigilante operation, which some social media users have described as staged.[29] Zdorovetskiy also stated that he paid American rapper Quavo $300,000 to appear in another operation, but that Quavo had taken the money and failed to appear. Zdorovetskiy described Quavo's actions as a "black people thing".[30] Also in July, another operation alongside The Game and Wack 100 culminated in the former punching a man that the vigilante group had accused of attempting to meet a 15-year-old minor. HotNewsHipHop wrote that is not clear if the sting operation was staged.[17]
Another operation with Zdorovetskiy and Ty Dolla Sign culminated with a man in his 70s being punched in the face, falling on the ground and cracking his head.[31] In November 2024, a Hollywood screenwriter filed a lawsuit against Zdorovetskiy. The plaintiff stated, referring to Zdorovetskiy and his vigilante group, that "this gang wrongfully accuses their victims of pedophilia by filming them with men in their 20s and then after-the-fact claiming the men are minors". The plaintiff also stated that he was targeted as a gay man who worked in the entertainment industry.[18]
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