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I am chronically ill, autistic, and have mental health diagnoses. My father was blind and when he was alive, one of the things he regularly railed against was the infantilization of disabled people. People trying to excuse this behavior because of his disability are wrong. He was an adult. He expressed numerous times in different situations that he KNEW he wasn't supposed to be interacting with minors and yet still did. People blaming the children here are dead wrong.

My son is 21 and has Downs Syndrome. He has no interest in teenagers. He knows he is a grown up and wants grown up friends to do grownup stuff with. This whole disability narrative is disgusting.

Thank you for touching on the deaf excuse! I'm deaf, and am 31. I wouldn't even consider talking to a teen, ESPECIALLY in such a creepy way! It's disgusting hearing people use that as an excuse.

I gotta say, I’m blown away at the maturity of the young victim’s of this situation. Oliver, Adam, and Becky are all so well spoken and have a level of grace I don’t think I had when I was 20. At the same time its sad that these kids in their early 20s have a better grasp on life that grown ass 30 something’s.

With all that’s coming out about the siblings lack of boundaries about s*x, I keep getting a stronger feeling that we have a deeper story and what we are seeing is a generational problem. Obviously this is purely speculation, and it’s important to say that most people that gets abused will NOT abuse in their turn.

Thanks to Oliver for speaking up, it can't be easy to talk so publicly about something this personal (especially with the added layers of people threatening you and saying anti-LGBT+ stuff to you like a lot of the people speaking out against Colleen and her brother have had to deal with) but this sort of thing spreads awareness as well as helping others who've gone through similar things. I feel like a lot of people in my generation (Z) and also millennials have gone through having weird experiences with people online when we were kids whether it was other kids or adults. We're the second test generation for the effects of unfiltered access to social media as kids, younger millennials being the first imo, and I hope it's better and safer for the next generation

I’m physically disabled, one of my friends is deaf from birth and has a cochlear implant. She is horrified and disgusted that people are using it as an excuse and implying that any deaf person has mental disabilities too, or is also a Pedo. Even if he did have a disability that caused him to not understand that the messages were inappropriate, or mentally younger, (seems unlikely from my experience due to the fact he actively hid it from his parents and told Oliver to hide and not tell anyone about the messages, and admitted he was told not too) it would be his parents, carers, or guardians to prevent and not allow this to happen. There were many adults who were around and supposedly knew he had a thing for messaging fans, but he had open and unsupervised access to the internet. If a disability was truly involved, HE WOULD NOT BE UNSUPERVISED FOR HIS OWN SAFETY!!!

Something really struck me here. It's how they stated they were too scared to tell their mom, scared she would be mad and punish them. It struck me because I've been through the same thing. So I'm going to say it for all the parents out there: Make sure you built a relation of trust with your child, make sure they're not afraid of consequences if they tell you things. You want your child to feel safe telling you this kind of things. Edit: Love the "you're trans because you were groomed". How does it worked. I was agender before I was groomed. Why did it not birthed a gender into me?

I do think Colleen and family had at least an idea what Trent was doing. He flat out told Oliver that his family told him not to talk to minors.

2 things I have to say 1 is that we need to shed just as much light on this situation as Colleen... Just because Colleen is famous and he isn't does not mean it is less serious. And 2 if he was told that it was wrong to message under age people and he acknowledged that when telling kids to not tell anyone he knew right from wrong therefore it doesn't matter if he had any kind of disability he knew it was wrong.

Ex-Child Protection Investigator here, current DFV Specialist. The frequency of the messages in addition to the comments around sex and sexuality is about normalisation - he’s trying to make it seem like that conversation is normal because they’ve had it a million times before and get her comfortable with it. But the biggest thing to me is the audio clips and video’s he’s requesting. This is called a “foot in the door” technique (there may be another name for it). The idea is once the child said yes to something, especially if it pushes their boundaries slightly, then he can continue to push those boundaries because “well you were uncomfortable last time and everything was okay, so push your boundaries a little further to make me happy and you’ll see it’ll be okay again”. He’s also establishing loyalty to himself over others (don’t tell anyone), and minimising and justifying his actions (I’m just spreading positivity). He is also bringing in the idea of meeting in person and expanding his access to Oliver. Very common grooming behaviours.

People who think disabled people shouldn’t have to be accountable for shitty behavior are the same ones who say “differently abled” despite disabled people’s protests

Thanks for reiterating that disability isn't an excuse for alleged abuse. I've heard people speculate about autism and it's infuriating. We're more likely to BE abused rather than commit it. I'm so proud of Olli speaking up and asking an adult during the active abuse [allegedly.] It must have been so hard.

Ollie, you are absolutely right. If someone is crossing your boundaries, you are right to feel uncomfortable and separate yourself from them. So glad you spoke publicly.

Yeah I understand the disclaimer at the start, even major news outlets will say "allegedly" ahead of stuff (The good ones anyways) because unless they get arrested and get prison time etc they can always turn around and sue everyone if things go sideways

I can’t even imagine having a CHILD’s number in my contact list that isn’t my own!!! I’m in my early 30s and cannot imagine actually chatting up anyone under 18 like even 20 or less feels super odd. So weird…

Of course you have to say allegations - it hasn't had a court verdict. Strange that people are getting upset by that. Appreciate Oliver's strength sharing in the hopes it can help others.

The only people vilifying disabled people in these situations are the people trying to excuse his behavior on account that he *might* have other disabilities. - an autistic person

I’m autistic and would never think of dating/ even talking to a minor. My autism does make me interested in some “childish” things… but not.. children. People trying to justify bad behavior by disabilities is so disgusting to me. Disabled or not, wrong things are wrong and Trent very clearly knew he shouldn’t be taking to minors.

I really hope people like Oliver know just how impactful their statements can be. I was groomed online at 12 and I am still dealing with emotions from that as an adult. I wish I had seen a video like Oliver's. It may have given me the warning I needed. Oliver you're doing good work! Also I'm so glad that their friend felt comfy asking her mom. I hope I can be that type of parent to my own kid.

Thank you for giving Oliver a platform to speak. I wanted to hear more about this

The whole family sounds wrong. It seriously makes me wonder what it was like for them growing up. What were their parents like behind closed doors?

Deafblind, full time wheelchair user here who is also trans, I believe you and support you and calling out disabled people for bad behavior is not a bad thing. Not calling out people who do terrible things because they are disabled is in fact ableism.

As a disabled individual I constantly tell minors I would not continue conversing with them when they DM me. I always ask for the person’s age (this is on discord) and if they’re under 18, I will 100% block them. Disability isn’t an excuse

In his 30s!! To a 13/14 year old boy? That’s so sad and awful.

Don't quote me but i believe Colleen at one point described her brother as "Disabled" and people automatically took that as he had mental disabilities. Which he doesn't, again dont quote me... From what I've seen from people involved with the Ballinger's, his only disability is that he is deaf. There is no excuse for this.

This entire Colleen Ballinger s*** just makes me angry. Just when i thought this situation couldn't get any worse, i lie to myself. This s*** is crazy. Thank you Vangelina and other KZfaqrs for continuing to do deep dives on this insanity

THANK YOU for standing up for deaf/HoH people. i was SO sick of seeing people trying to defend this man acting like he had a mental disability of some kind and using that to excuse his behaviour when all he is is deaf (as far as we know, anyway). being deaf does not effect your mental capabilities i dont understand what people were on about there??? it's been INCREDIBLY OFFENSIVE, so as someone who is deaf, i thank you for standing up for people like me

What makes me disturbed is that Trent might not be the only inappropriate character engaging in messages with Oliver. Someone close to him and/or Colleen could be over his shoulder, telling Trent to ask for vocal snippets, videos, pictures... Kind of like when multiple people engage in a horrid prank against an innocent person. Johnny and Colleen made fun of Trisha Paytas, maybe Trent and someone else want to make fun of Oliver together, or just continue to creep on them. This entire web is full of grossness, and I'd love the survivors to break free, clean the web up with a vacuum and never be troubled by it again.

I’m proud of Oliver for trusting his gut as soon as that phone number was given and to talk with a friend’s parent.

THANK YOU so much for addressing the fact that disabilities ≠ predatory behavior. Even if some people think they're saying something well meaning it's a narrative pushed by ableism and using disabilities as something that is inherently bad. So many people that do push these stereotypes are infantilizing disabled people and also calling us p3do bait for just existing. Of course you didn't go into all of that, but it's so nice seeing someone with a bigger platform addressing the way people treat disabilities online

KodeeRants seems to have started the whole "Trent didn't know what he was doing" excuse. Total nonsense. Kodee helped Adam in the beginning but ended up making everything worse by spreading misinformation. I really hope the Trent Ballinger situation gets more attention; this is REALLY, REALLY BAD. I'm holding Colleen AND Gwen culpable.

Safe to say that this family normalized (internally) the unacceptable.

Disabled people are likelier to be the VICTIMS of abuse, not vice versa. Disability is NEVER an excuse for acting like that, and he should and could have known better. As a disabled person, thank you for refusing to stand for that kind of rhetoric! It's super ableist and completely unfounded in reality.

I am hearing impaired and occasionally my ear pops in a way my hearing comes back. I have never in my life messaged anyone wanting to “hear their real voice” or anything of the matter. I’ve never even put of certain songs to “hear them better”. That is such a weird excuse

This is why parental involvement with any teen's relationships is important-- especially when it comes to an older figure. I work as an independent skill tutor and "trans mentor" for some local teens (used to do this as a youth LGBTQ counselor for a large company until my position got downsized in 2020). I'm not even close to Trent's age, but situations like this are why I am so, SO insistent on making any communication I have with those teens apparent, open, and /including their parents/. I make it clear to their parents that any conversations are not allowed to be private. There are boundaries and topics I will refuse to engage with. Situations like this are what make me so strict when messaging them whatsoever -- no matter the fact that there isn't anything gross or weird about a mentor-student group chat that includes their parents. I totally get the idea that "older people shouldn't be interacting whatsoever with a minor that they aren't related to, period full stop end of story." But I will raise the idea here that there are valid times when a minor and older figure can interact on a platonic mentor/professional level... and none of those times include "intimate friendships" in secretive, creepy Twitter DMs about skeevy topics.

This topic breaks my heart but I'm glad V. decided to talk more about it. I hope that it will mainly help current victims recognise that something is bery wrong with the war they are treated. And as always here to admire V.'s curls ❤

You need to remember that a lot of the people saying you shouldn't say "allegedly" are twelve. lol

I am so glad that this is being talked about. All of the ballingers need to be held accountable.

There's something wrong with the Ballinger family, i want to know more about their parents...

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 For Oliver! Thank you for placing much needed focus on this aspect of the situation. I dread to think what would be uncovered on this man's phone when one of his victims feels strong enough to go to the authorities 😔

Oliver is a lovely bean, I believed Adam in 2020, I got mad at Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Morning for having Colleen on their show, giving her another big platform when she did this to children, and the way she acted to everyone around her, like how dare she. >.> I feel bad for all the young people that had to suffer Colleen and I hope they're all doing well and recovering as best as they can, and thanks to everyone supporting and spreading awareness of how easily this stuff can get out of hand and get very inappropriate with underage and vulnerable people.

Oliver brushed over the red flags, because he was a CHILD! This is why creepy adults tell children not to show anybody their messages! Because children don't understand, but adults DO! So important to teach your children about boundaries, appropriate and inappropriate adult behavior!

I have lifelong medical and mental health disorders. My choices in behavior are irrelevant to them. I have worked with the deaf community- both with and without cochlear implants. Saying his behavior is related to his diagnosis is unacceptable and disgusting.

I think there's an understated, small but interesing point in the interview, which is about good parenting for teenagers. Things like the coming out to their *mum*, talking to and taking the advice from the gf's *mum*, etc. are possible because of a pre-existing good "adulting" education which allowed Oliver to be assertive yet open to discussion with, not only adults in general, but i particular with "authority figures" such as those mums. Sometimes it takes a lot for a teenager to navigate the thin line between being an assertive growing person and still trusting parents, and I think this happened, in part, because of good parenting. In other words, think about all the teens that fall prey and cannot scape because they don't think they can tell anybody (esp. their parents). I don't intend to diminish Oliver's work here, just pointing out that extra detail.

So glad this is being talked about more and more! Sadly it is like you said something "normal" or something that happens too often. I want to say that if you are in a position where you are talking to someone on the internet who is, 1: older and 2: maybe someone famous or any other thing that makes them have clout etc etc... Please do not ignore your feelings! If you think it's a bit weird that they are talking to you of all people, or if it is weird that they respond to your DM of all people, it is sadly that. Weird. It is never your fault, whether you sent the first DM or sent any photo that you regret now. Talk to someone older that you trust, even if it's embarrassing. I promise you it is never your fault and even if you don´t want to tell your parents or something, at least delete that person you are talking to. An older person whether celebrity or normal should never find interest in someone younger than 20 (I know 18 is minor age, but I still think a 27-year-old being attracted to 19 year old, as an example is weird), and if they do, block and report. Thanks for your amazing video!

Ollie, thank you so much for sharing. I feel proud having listened to you. I hope you feel proud of yourself for sharing and being so eloquent.

Poor kid. I can't imagine having someone you admire take advantage of you that way. Also , coming forward and having everybody know about it. Really brave but I hope they're getting help so they can process it. I'm glad that Ollie is aware that they did nothing wrong. It is pure evil to violate a child's trust like that.

So glad I finally got to hear Oliver’s story this way! I’ve been dying to hear his thoughts and experience!

He’s disabled. That’s no excuse for being a FUCKING PEDO. Thank you for covering this and keeping this alive. It needs to be MORE talked about. I wish major news outlets would pick it up.

Sayings "alleged" is basic CYA. Do people not know about Slander/Libel?

Thanks to you and Oliver.

Thank you for covering this part of it. It’s really helpful and important and these things have been glossed over.

all aboard!!

There is no correlation with deafness and inappropriate messaging or behavior. My nephew is deaf in an ear and he is given no moral leeway. Not that he needs that, but it would never factor into his ability to hear. That's a complete non-issue and a means to excuse away stuff that is problematic at best and abusive at worse. Thank you for covering this.

It must have been a really confusing and difficult situation for Oliver to navigate. What’s interesting is how they handled Trent when he was starting to be controlling. They were able to get out of this tangled web he was spinning around them. That’s what was so poignant to me. I just want Oliver to know that they are strong and wise beyond their years. 💚

The thing that, for some reason, came to my mind when I heard about him sneaking into the videochats and his parents being concerned he didn't mute his mic is that he was m@sturbating 😱🤢 I sincerely hope I am wrong about that

I am autistic and have a hearing disorder, but those things don't result in me behaving inappropriately toward minors. Anyone excusing his behavior like that are seriously reaching and actually being rather ableist.

my 36 year old mother is deaf, she isnt talking to little boys.

With how the family have spoken about how religious and sheltered they were growing up it's reminding me of the Duggar family and the abuse the son has done.

My dad is deaf, he doesn't speak to children like that because he's a decent human being and having a disability doesn't make you a child predator. I am autistic, I don't think about or talk to children that way because, again, my disability doesn't make me a child predator. I'm tired of people hearing that someone is disabled and immediately brush off the bad shit that they have done, if they really can't control themselves they need to be institutionalized and kept under supervision.

I'm actually curious about the statute of limitations for cases like this.... can lawsuit be filed for these alleged begaviors? not only for trent but for colleen as well? Why is it that none of the victims have taken this to a lawsuit level? also Kudos to oliver for consulting with an adult about the interaction with trent.

This is why I think it's so important for kids to learn about internet safety as early as possible. As a pre-teen I received explicit messages from fully grown men and I didn't know it was bad because no one told me. Now I don't message anyone online that I don't already know in real life and I make sure it's them. It can be very dangerous. Kids get trafficked because they don't know not to trust the people that message them online.

He was literally flirting with the winky faces, and saying she’s cute, and the focus on sex, dating, couples. Absolutely disgusting behavior.

I don’t know what to make of this, but it doesn’t feel good. In the thumbnail, Trent looks like my cousin who is 4 years older than me and who was inappropriate with me while I was a child on multiple occasions. I guess… I’m going to shift to saying you are always right for having boundaries and enforcing them with others. Anyone who tries to continually push past them? It’s reasonable to enforce them that much more.

I can't believe someone doesn't understand why you have to say "allegations"

So glad the fundraiser met the initial goal! 💕

No disability makes you a creep! I’m really glad Oliver made the choice to share their story

The scary thing to me is how controlling Trent was. Ollie wasn’t allowed to leave the platform or be online after saying goodnight to him. Wasn’t allowed to talk about spending time with other people.

As an autistic person the ableism is so upsetting. The NASTY BEHAVIOR TOWARD KIDS AND PRETEENS IS NOT OKAY REGARDLESS!!!!!!

I mean, as a neuro divergent, I do have trouble with proper communication but I won't text minor who are not of my family, it's obvious.

You're telling me this man was in his THIRTIES and his parents were still having to patrol his Internet activities?? Disabled or not he knew what he was doing was wrong. This is never okay

My deaf dad was abusive, my disabled mum was abusive, I’m also deaf and disabled physically and cognitively myself. Deaf and disabled people are just people and can be any kind of person, this infantalizing from most ppl is really upsetting and angering

The deaf excuse makes no sense as he told them not to say anything. Clearly he knew what he was doing was wrong or he wouldnt have been sketchy to begin with. This is just beyond gross. As a parent id be pressing charges if i could and doing anything i could to get the word out about this family because its clearly a family thing not just colleen . I guess one thing it proves is where she gets it from... 🤬🤢😡

The whole family seems to be another level of messed up, I'm honestly curious about the parents at this point, like it's crazy that two out of their four(?) Children seem to have "boundaries" issues with children

I’m physically and mentally disabled. I’m also currently 20. I would never talk to a teenager or child like this. I also wouldn’t have close friendships with teenagers. Because I’m an adult!! Adults with disabilities are not children, and shouldn’t be treated as such.

Oliver is an amazing person and I hope he knows that. I also hope he knows that he has our support!

I have DID, some of our alts are kids and teenagers. *_NONE of us have ANY desire to talk to Real kids and teenagers._* We need sincere study into how predation develops in adults, and what abuse cycles can do to affect this. People with autism, complex personality disorders, and other disabilities particularly those that have been maligned by the public and understudied, are way more likely to be the victims of csa and sa.

how is being deaf and being inappropriate with children even remotely connected at all? Like what's the thought process here??

I have several chronic disabilities/illnesses and I can definitely tell you how inappropriate it would be to talk to a 13 year old in my late 20s. It’s disgusting! The people using his disability as an excuse are full on ableists and it makes me sick. We are already stigmatized, stop making it worse!

most Deaf people (at least those in the Deaf community vs those who are simply deaf) don’t even consider it a disability so the fact ppl r trying to use that as an excuse, especially hearing ppl is very ignorant and borderline audist imo

It's sad that Oliver's situation didn't reach authorities. Not Oliver's fault at all.

Wow as someone who has over 10 diff disabilities plus mental health issues and on strong pain meds daily I still am able to know right and wrong even when I had a mental breakdown and was sectioned and sent to a hospital I wouldn’t of dreamed of ever messaging or being inappropriate with a child at all. You do get people making false allegations which I’ve been subject to but luckily for me those issues were resolved immediately. I always make sure that anything I can online can be viewed and is lawful. I had to give my device to the police last year after leaving dv relationship. I hated having the police looking through my private messages but as I’ve always been safety aware online even for my Own well being nothing was on my devices that would ever be illegal. These people don’t realise the police can sieze devices at any time and view those messages even deleted ones. I’m proud someone can always do that and I’m perfectly legal even with major diabliilitys and mental health issues as well. Best thing to do is not talk to children at all to begin with. Sometimes protecting urself is a way to prevent allegations from ever starting anywhere with anyone underage.

I learned ASL when I was 12 and I knew several members of the deaf community in my local area for several years. And just, no, they are literally no different than hearing people. At all.

Oh. Ok. You didn’t have bad intentions, Trent. That makes being EXTREMELY creepy with a minor totally okay, then. NOT! Ugh. He’s gross.

i'm 25 and autistic. i think even _21-year-olds_ look like infants, i would never even DREAM of having private conversations with a minor, unless they were like a relative or close family friend (i also don't work a job that requires me to interact with children). i would DEFINITELY not have any conversations with an underage stranger and EVEN MORE DEFINITELY not with an underage stranger i met online. no disability is an excuse for being a creep, but i ESPECIALLY don't understand the logic that "deafness = messaging children" ???

i do believe that there are situations where someone who's younger can have a meaningful friendship with someone who's older, but as a general rule, if you're asking a child to not tell anyone about your relationship, YOU'RE PROBABLY DOING IT WRONG

Although i hate that Oliver went through all this, i am very glad you used your platform to tell Olis story. Im disabled and neurodivergent, so it drives me crazy that people arent talking about how wrong this is because of trents conditions. Being autistic does not make someone target minors for relationships, its just gross and ableist imo to write off his behaviors because of his diagnoses.

A friend of mine is deaf. He would never behave like this.

I'm a nonbinary person with audhd, I've always had friends who are younger than me. Even then though, I stopped being friends with people who are under 18 once I got into adulthood. It really isn't that hard as someone with mental illness and mental differences to be friends with people their age. My only times I talk to younger people now is when I'm trading on nookazon, and once the trades are over I close the dm. I don't understand why people think it's hard for people who are neurodivergent to not befriend children. If I gain a friendship and I don't know their age and I don't see their age. I ask, and if it's under 18, I thank them for the conversation and close the dm because I don't feel comfortable being friends with a child. So if I can choose not to befriend children at 23, so can someone in their 30s. If they keep trying to befriend children at that point. It's a choice, and a dangerous predatory one at that.

As Mom I was already incredibly angry about this entire situation but this one hits a little close to home. This young person reminds me of my son. They look so much like him. I hope they get the help and support they need.

For engagement: You broke my heart on Wednesday, thank you.

Finally someone is talking about him!

Hey Vangelina, love your videos and have been watching for a few years. I found out yesterday about the salvopancakes/ Edwin's generation stuff that happened earlier in the year and am trying to catch up on ehat on earth happened with all of this - its all very disjointed and there's no one video going over what actually happened from all sides. I think it would be a good topic to do a deep dive into if you're interested in doing so.

Something needs to change with these family channels. I can't say what, or how, but as a parent there is no scenario in which vlogging my children would be ok. Especially in households where the parents have zero employment outside of the vlogs. Those kids are the ones working, and the parents have more kids once the oldest ones stop wanting to be filmed all the time. I realize that the current topic about Colleen has nothing to do with family vlogging, but she and her family have definitely tapped into a genre of content that is very lucrative. We have seen enough evidence by now of the type of character that is willing to exploit random children, yet alone their own children. The abuse is happening right in front of our eyes, edited, and served with a bow. They clearly have no moral hangups, or compassion, for their fellow man.

Thers's a HUGE problem with mobs of kids existing in this virtual reality vacuum.

One thing I have to note that someone pointed out one time is that in the racism video that Colleen did with Rachel, Colleen was already legally an adult and people were saying that Rachel was still around 15 years old. So something tells me that Colleen definitely has had a history of taking advantage of minors ever since she became an adult herself because it’s most likely that Rachel went along with this for a few different reasons. One, she saw nothing wrong with it two, She just did what her older sister did and three, no one told her it was wrong.

Hey Vangelina ! You seem very nice. Have a good day.

I feel like the truth was that they wanted him muted because of sounds that could be made from things he was doing with himself …