© Karwai Tang/WireImage Meghan Markle
attends the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial at The Cenotaph on November 10,
2019 in London, England. Hate accounts targeted her with critical YouTube
videos.
The
three most successful YouTube accounts trolling the Duchess of Sussex have
earned around $494,729 over the duration of their existence, a report by Bot
Sentinel calculated.
One
also made racially charged comments about Dodi al-Fayed, Princess Diana's
Middle Eastern boyfriend at the time of her death, saying: "You just know
they're gonna be covered in hair all over their body a bit like, you know, an
ape."
The
estimated incomes were based on YouTube Studio revenue inadvertently revealed
by one account, Yankee Wally, in an online video, as Newsweek reported in December.
Yankee
Wally's data showed she earned around £2,503.84 (more than $3,300) in a single
month in November last year and had "Revenue Per Mille," or earnings
per 1,000 views, of $7.
The
company used that figure to estimate total earnings for the three biggest
anti-Meghan channels across all their videos.
The
same formula was applied to a broader group of 25 channels to produce an
estimate of $3.5 million across 497.5 million views.
Bot
Sentinel's report stated: "According 2taz, Murky Meg, and Yankee Wally
aren't the only YouTube channels focused predominantly on disparaging Meghan
Markle.
"We
were able to identify at least 25 similar YouTube channels with a combined 497+
million views and an estimated $3.48 million in total YouTube earnings."
It
added: "In 2019, Yankee Wally, Murky Meg, and According 2taz began
creating low-quality YouTube videos targeting Harry and Meghan.
"The
trio created hate-filled and mostly inaccurate videos to monetize conspiracy
theories about Harry and Meghan.
"The
three YouTube channels had a combined 70+ million views, and an estimated
$494,729 in total YouTube earnings."
The
report describes how Yankee Wally made racially charged comments in her videos,
including about women of color and Middle Eastern men.
In
a October 11, 2021, video, titled "The Mystery & Middle East
Connections of #meghanmarkle," she said: "I didn't think Dodi
al-Fayed was good looking at all in fact I thought he was rather awful looking.
He had that billiard ball head.
"Nappy
hair, I don't like that. And you know, you just know they're gonna be covered
in hair all over their body a bit like, you know, an ape and I really, really
don't like that either."
Dodi
Fayed died alongside Princess Diana in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997,
while their car was being followed by the paparazzi.
A
July 23, 2019, video by Yankee Wally was titled, "Meghan Markle is
uncultured, uncivil spoilt and rude. But she CAN see 500 yds with her
rat-eyes!"
Another
video titled, "there's a very dangerous organisation formed, to demolish
the Monarchy. we must act fast," included a list of pro-Sussex Twitter
accounts.
Yankee
Wally said: "These are aggressive people you know. They are, they're WOCs
that have got a chip on their shoulder bigger than you'll ever, well, you know
what they're like. They just get off on hate."
WOC
is an acronym that stands for "women of color."
The
report stated: "In this video, Yankee Wally shared a list she believed was
filled with women of color, and she wanted her subscribers/followers to target
the women on the list."
Elsewhere,
the three YouTube accounts shared conspiracy theories about Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle, including suggesting that the duchess faked her first pregnancy.
The
Bot Sentinel report reads: "Based on the data and extensive evidence we
collected, our research has revealed a sustained coordinated campaign to defame
Harry and Meghan, and tarnish their brand.
"The
campaign spans several social media platforms across multiple continents, and
the key participants are predominantly Caucasian women between the ages of 38
and 65.
"Racism
and YouTube ad revenue are the primary motivators of the core group. Subgroups
are driven primarily by their hatred of Meghan Markle, taking their cues from
the core group.
"The
bizarre and nonsensical conspiracy theories they believe are reminiscent of
QAnon, but the hate and vitriol they spread would classify them as a hate
group."
Yankee
Wally told Newsweek in
an email: "I object to ALL of those allegations. That's a gross invasion
of privacy."
After
a story about her earnings in December, she added: "Every year I have to
fill in a tax return for USA. Failure to do so results in deduction of 40
percent.
"I
always complete mine so I pay 20 percent. 41 percent of all ad revenue goes to
YouTube, I'm 65 and retired, not on any government benefits.
"The
income varies greatly. I've earned as little as $700 a month. Now that Bouzy
has continued to use his twitter account to say I'm a 'hate' account, I'm
feeling less inclined to make videos at all.
"Regarding
Meghan Markle; hate is too strong an emotion to waste on someone that I just
don't like."
Newsweek has reached out to Murky Meg and According 2taz for
comment.
Newsweek has also approached Google, owner of YouTube