DaddyOFive
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| “ | It's just a prank, bro! | „ |
| ~ DaddyOFive's catchphrase, especially during the infamous invisible ink video. |
DaddyOFive (born December 17, 1982) was a YouTube vlog channel run by Michael Christopher "Mike" Martin-Danzinger-Ross and his wife Heather Martin-Danzinger-Ross. Their content mainly featured videos of the family hurting each other, breaking each other's personal belongings, and pretending to put their youngest son Cody up for adoption. All instances provoked by Mike and Heather. The channel had 733,000+ subscribers and 5.9 million in total views, up until their termination in 2018.
Backstory edit
According to Nick Monroe's Wordpress page, through an interview with one of Mike's ex-wives Amy, Mike Martin was born in Baltimore City. Mike was in and out of institutions before landing in Lansdowne High School, where he dropped out in his sophomore year and never obtained a G.E.D. Amy says that he was bipolar, and believes that he has attention deficit disorder and a learning disability. He didn't need treatment for his mental impairments. With more research from Amy, she also stated that his adoptive parents died when Mike was very young. When Mike was five years old, he attempted to commit suicide. Apparently, him forcing his children to write sentences as punishment came from his adoptive mother when he was young. Mike had two children, Cody and Emma. The other three children, Jake, Ryan, and Alex were from Heather's previous marriage.
Child Abuse Claims edit
Although DaddyOFive has been posting content since 2015, they became the center of child abuse claims on April 17th, 2017 where internet personality Phillip DeFranco made a video condemning the abusive and extreme nature of the Ink Spillage video. The video currently has 4.9 million+ views and was pivotal in the exposure of the abuse. It also made people question the morality of child celebritism. One of his most despicable moments was when the whole family went to Walt Disney World in Florida and left Cody behind because they claim Cody was smearing feces but it was actually a clogged toilet.
After the video was uploaded, Mike and Heather responded by posting an illegitimate apology video claiming their videos were faked and outright blaming DeFranco for the negativity brought upon them.
Aftermath edit
Shortly after the apology, two of their children, Cody and Emma, were removed from the Martins and reunited with their biological mother, Rose Hall. The fact that Cody and Emma have been tortured and humiliated by DaddyOFive and were uploaded to YouTube ultimately tore Rose and her family apart. Robert Hall, the grandfather of Cody and Emma unsuccessfully urged YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Team YouTube to take down the DaddyOFive videos. Robert boycotted YouTube a couple of years prior to Philip DeFranco exposing DaddyOFive.
Criminal proceedings edit
In August 2017, the Martins were persecuted by the Fredrick County Circuit Court and each faced two counts of "neglect of a minor". They both pleaded guilty on September 11th, 2017 and were sentenced to five years of supervised probation. Shortly after, the YouTube family renamed themselves as FamilyOFive.
Termination of channel edit
On July 18, 2018, FamilyOFive has been terminated for violating YouTube's community guidelines. Not long after, they made their own subscription-based vlogs for a short period of time. A couple of months later, FamilyOFive's remaining children formed their own YouTube channel, The Martin Boys. In June 2019, it was reported that Mike has a SoundCloud channel, Mikey M Music.