And the award of YouTube's best prank of 2025 so far goes to...MoistCr1TiKaL aka Charlie White Jr.
He recently staged his own retirement only to return with a few surprises.
The Setup
A few days ago, Charlie dropped a dramatic video titled “Saying Goodbye.”
The video had an emotional sendoff, a small orchestra, YouTube legend Ray William Johnson, and, most importantly, T-Pain stepping in as his replacement.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because Season 2 is going to be even better,” Charlie said before handing the channel over to T-Pain.
The internet exploded with questions: was Charlie actually quitting? Was this just an elaborate promo? Did T-Pain buy him too many drinks?
The Reveal
The next day, a new video had T-Pain fully in character as MoistCr1TiKaL.
Just as theories swirled, Charlie came back with another upload to explain everything.
Or rather, explain nothing.
“What does it all mean? Just like getting an ‘I love you’ from a stripper, it was meaningless," Charlie said.
Turns out, the entire thing was just a pointless, expensive troll. No vacation, no break, no grand scheme. Just MoistCr1TiKaL spending a fortune to fully commit to the bit.
Our Take
MoistCr1TiKaL’s joke reminds us that sometimes the best way to keep an audience engaged is to mess with expectations.
Creators often stage big stunts for brand deals, algorithm hacks, or hype-building. Charlie did it just because.
And honestly? It worked. The three videos on his 'retirement' racked up over 15M views, proving that even after 18 years, Charlie still knows how to keep fans guessing.