A nine-year-old gaming YouTuber and his father have attracted widespread attention after claiming the child accidentally spent about $118,000 of his father’s employer’s money on YouTube advertising.
The channel, Mighty Mike Plays, began posting Roblox and Minecraft videos in August and initially attracted a small following. That changed after a video posted on September 14 announced that the channel could be coming to an end.
In the video, the boy’s father, Dave, claimed he had been confronted by his employer after discovering a $118,000 charge on a company bank card.
Dave said the card had been linked to an account used to purchase Robux, Roblox’s virtual currency. He said he had also spent about $20 on a small advertising campaign to promote one of his son’s videos.
According to Dave, the child subsequently ran additional advertising campaigns without his knowledge, resulting in the alleged $118,000 bill.
He claimed his employer had terminated his employment and given him 30 days to repay the money. Dave said he and his wife were considering selling their home to cover the alleged debt.
The story quickly went viral, with the channel's subscriber count reportedly rising to about 238,000. Its two videos addressing the alleged incident have collectively attracted millions of views.
However, the claims have also prompted widespread scepticism online.
Some viewers have questioned how such a large advertising bill could accumulate without being detected, while others have pointed to the lack of publicly available documentation supporting the full amount claimed.
The controversy intensified after the family decided against creating a GoFundMe campaign and instead launched a website selling merchandise, with some shirts featuring references to the alleged $118,000 advertising bill.
The merchandise has also drawn criticism because some of the designs appear to have been created using artificial intelligence, while prices reportedly range from $67 to $97.
Dave has rejected claims that the channel is a scam. In a subsequent post, he said the family had provided evidence of the alleged advertising expenditure and defended their decision to use AI-generated designs.
He also said comments had been disabled on the channel after the discussion became increasingly hostile, particularly because the channel is operated by a child.
For now, questions remain over the circumstances surrounding the alleged advertising expenditure. The family maintains that the $118,000 debt is genuine, while sceptics online continue to question aspects of the account.
The situation remains ongoing, with the channel continuing to post updates and promote its merchandise.