Do we like El Rubius?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent record and no campaigning against anyone, with a tax ruling and a couple of clumsy moments on the other side.
Rubén Doblas Gundersen, known as El Rubius, is one of the biggest Spanish-language YouTubers and streamers. He announced in January 2021 that he was moving to Andorra, and Business Insider reportedly put his earnings the year before at about €4.3 million. That move is where most of his trouble with the press started.
The Andorra move was met with headlines saying he was leaving to pay less tax. He answered with a long letter, saying his reasons were personal and that he had paid almost half of what he earned in tax over ten years as a YouTuber. A Madrid court later upheld the tax authority's demand of about €49,600 for his 2013 income, plus a fine of about €23,100 for an improper tax advantage, after he billed through a company.
On the harm test, the record is thin rather than ugly. In October 2023 he paused Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and switched off a character's podcast that used inclusive language, and the community split over it. In 2022 he and AuronPlay were criticised in Mexico after saying nobody would go to an awards event held there, and an old Cancún video resurfaced; he commented that the line was a joke and sarcasm, and streamer elxokas defended them.
Nothing turned up of him campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, pushing climate denial or vaccine claims, or backing anyone who does. I couldn't confirm who he has worked with lately, so that part of the check is a gap, not a clean bill. Back in 2020 he trended with #RubiusCancelado after a watermelon-smashing video, when some users alleged racist gestures and others read it as a satanic ritual; he treated it as a joke.
The good stuff is real if modest. After a roughly 209-hour Twitch subathon in 2022 he said he would give about US$70,000 of the roughly US$118,000 raised to animal shelters, and set aside US$35,000 for his moderators. He had wanted to open his own shelter, but said that would take too long.
Lately it's quiet apart from the sad bit: in June 2026 his silence on stream when he heard about Gaspi went around the internet. Nothing new on scandals lately.