Do we like Jacksepticeye?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Years of big charity fundraising and no harmful words found, but a thin record on LGBTQ+ and political topics keeps it from a 9.
Seán McLoughlin is the Irish bloke behind Jacksepticeye, and he got there the lonely way. The AP reports he spent his 20s at his family's remote home and found community in online gaming. He now has nearly 31 million subscribers, and he also does voice acting and runs a coffee business.
His biggest public stoush was with MrBeast in 2023. In a viral lie detector clip he said YouTube had become “more about views, money, and popularity than it did about having fun”. MrBeast hit back in a since-deleted tweet, calling the clip “insanely disrespectful”. A year later Jack was back defending fellow YouTuber DanTDM over a product-criticism row, which is more mate than menace.
On the harm test, the record is clean but thin. We found no campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet, no conspiracy rabbit holes, and nothing dodgy in who he works with. The closest thing to a flag is that in 2020 he stood by his friend PewDiePie through that YouTuber's past controversies, saying “I'm only in charge of what I say and what I do”. We also found little from him on trans rights or politics either way, so call it a pass with a gap.
The recent news is mostly work. In April 2026 Sony announced an R-rated animated Bloodborne film at CinemaCon with Jack on board as a producer, and he called the project his “North Star”. In March he also grumbled that YouTube age-restricted just one of five Resident Evil Requiem episodes, when the whole franchise is violent. Nothing there that should worry anyone.
The real story is Thankmas, his annual charity livestream. The first one in 2018 raised over a quarter of a million dollars, and a 2020 campaign raised $1.9 million for United Way Worldwide. By late 2024 the AP, citing Tiltify, put his streams at more than $26 million, and Tubefilter later said almost $30 million. Beneficiaries have included Red Nose Day, New Story, Crisis Text Line and World Central Kitchen.
What stands out is how he's handled it. In November 2025 he cancelled that year's Thankmas, saying he needed a break and could see fans struggling financially, and that he didn't want to “ask any more of my community than I need to”. He plans a cheaper, different-format return in 2026. Telling your fans to keep their wallets shut is a rare move for someone who makes money off them.