The mean gays

Aaron Goldenberg and Jake Jonez, otherwise known as the Mean Gays, invited us over for “fun” on Sept. 1, —though they really invited the whole world via a viral video on social media.

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Aaron Goldenberg and Jake Jonez aka the hilarious TikTok sensation “Mean Gays” are here! Sad to inform you all that they’re incredibly nice in real life. Everyone has a story about a group of "mean gays" in their town - which is why everyone loves (and loves to hate) Aaron Goldenberg and Jake Jonez as the "Mean Gays" in their on-the-nose social media skits. The comedians’ “Mean Gays” skits, characterized by exaggerated expressions and biting social commentary, have resonated with viewers who recognize the familiar awkwardness of everyday interactions.

Well, they're none other than Miami native Aaron Goldberg and Jake Jonez, who are most well-known to the internet and the world as the aptly named comedy pair, the Mean Gays. In addition to their. Welcome to Millionaires , where we profile creators who have recently crossed the one million follower mark on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch.

There are creators crossing this threshold every week, and each of them has a story to tell about their success. Read previous installments here. He started booking jobs in his early 20s, and after snagging roles in a couple indie films and commercials, he moved down to Atlanta for more opportunities in TV and film. So he had some experience with social media—but not enough to be prepared when the very first video he posted to TikTok brought in over , views.

I am just this incredible viral creator that everybody loves. I made a couple more videos that were very much in that same tone and the same deal with playing multiple characters and everything, and none of those went viral. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Aaron Goldenberg: Yes. My name is Aaron Goldenberg, and—I am going to start that sentence over. My name is Aaron Goldenberg. I was raised in Miami, Florida, where I got into acting and theater and all that at a pretty young age.

First started doing skits in church and Christmas plays and all that, but I very quickly was just one of those kids who was always in some kind of a drama class, whether it was at school or elsewhere. Started doing community theater in my teens, and then as well as acting for student films at local colleges that had film programs.

I just always knew that I wanted to act. In my early 20s, I booked a couple of independent films and commercials down in Miami, but I finally realized that, in order to get more opportunities with TV and film, I needed to move where there was more of an industry. I finally moved to Atlanta, which is where I live now. Obviously, in March , the world changed, and I was one of those many, many content creators who really had sort of their first burst of virality and an audience in an early pandemic.

I had been creating content for years. I directed a lot of short films or skits for Instagram. I wanted to be who I considered the viral gay people at that time like Johnny Sibilly and Jimmy Fowlie. I was watching their stuff for years. It was the one that went viral, as it happens occasionally. It was just one of those that had an interesting take on the pandemic and having to cook at home. I think it got , views pretty quickly and I had never, ever seen numbers like that.

To me, that was an incredibly viral video. Then I would just play the opposite person, whoever they were talking to, and I would write out my responses and everything. I did over 50 of those with various content creators and everything, but those started going viral again. Some of them ended up on BuzzFeed and some other publications. I just definitely found my stride in the sketch comedy realm of TikTok and Instagram.

Aaron Goldenberg: Instagram Reels definitely changed everything for me. I was really close with Stanzi Potenza.