The ACE Family is one of the most-watched YouTube channels on the site thanks to their high-energy daily vlogs, extreme pranks, and cute kids. However, not all is as it seems about this seemingly perfect family...
They Claimed To Live a Normal Life
Despite becoming an overnight success, The ACE Family claimed to still lead a normal life. However, most of their income came from YouTube and they gained a millionaire status. Despite coming from humble beginnings, the fame and money quickly went to their heads...
The Secret To Their Success
Catherine and Austin said the best way to make a career out of YouTube is to "take your time, create at your own pace, and follow it. Consistency is the number one key and just be true to yourself." They seem to be following their own advice, but they've come under fire for some decisions...
The First Issue
The ACE Family channel has more than 17.8 million subscribers, but despite the popularity, McBroom noticed some critics come after his page following a step back from posting content. Usually, he and Catherine post every day or every other day, and when they missed a regularly scheduled video fans were upset. McBroom had some words for them...
Immediate Backlash
To the comments, McBroom wrote back: "Some of y'all are ungrateful for free content. Some of y'all should be charged every time you watch someone's video. Idk why y'all think its [sic] just so easy to make videos everyday or every other day. If it was so easy everyone including yourself would be doing it..."
A Heated Response
Though he deleted the tweet with his comment after a few hours, fans were immediately offended by his words. He was called out by other YouTubers who he thought were his friends. They pointed out that the channel had afforded him a $10 million home earlier that year...
Embarrassed By Their Fellow Creator
Daniel Preda, who produces the series "Escape the Night," ripped McBroom apart for the tweet. TikTok star known for the "Kombucha Girl" video Brittany Broski caled out McBroom for "the audacity and the ego of his tweet."
"Be Grateful For The Life You Have"
"... being a content creator is a dream job, you get paid to film yourself having fun. Get that nasty s--- off my TL," Broski tweeted. "Be grateful for the life you have." She also replied to McBroom's since deleted tweet and said: "sir ...delete this ....being a content creator as a career is a blessing and a half. No one owes you anything ...check yourself."
"Start a Patreon or Get a New Job"
Smaller creators like Sarah McGonagall, a fantasy makeup artist, came after the ACE Family: "You film yourself destroying property, fake crying, and not donating money you promised while creatives like me are building entire worlds out of pocket for a fraction of the income you receive for filming your pretty family," she wrote. "Start a Patreon like the rest of us or get a new job."
The Other Side of the Controversies
The ACE Family was also accused of destoroying their LA neighbor's property by causing mudslides after filming jetski videos in their pool. They also posted clickbait videos that included promises to make $100,000 donations that never actually happened...
Working a "Normal" Job For 24 Hours
The ACE Family also faced criticism for another video. They worked at a friend's fast food restaurant for a day, which is seemingly "beneath" them and their careers. Viewers called out their pretentious attitude toward minimum wage jobs...
Money Through Ads
A lot of viewers have also called out the ACE Family for putting tons of ads in their videos as a form of monetization. They earn a significant amount of their income through ads alone, which means they don't really work typical jobs like the average person does. The family also has a team of people who edit and film the videos - they don't even do it themselves...
A Strong Fanbase
Despite the criticism, the ACE Family maintained their massive fanbase. They didn't suffer any significant subscriber loss following the many issues fans have had with them. Even though many fans tweeted that they'd be unfollowing and unsubscribing, it's unlikely that many actually did...
Serious Allegations
On a more serious note, Cole Carrigan, former member of the YouTube collective Team 10, accused McBroom of raping his friend. Carrigan provided screenshots of messages, testimony from the alleged victim, and photos of bloody sheets...
All Lies
McBroom came back with a statement that said the whole story was fabricated for money, and he and his family had been slandered. Carrigan allegedly made up the story so the ACE Family would pay him. Despite all these allegations, McBroom still maintains a strong social media following, and they never forgot where they came from...
Humble Beginnings
Austin McBroom grew up in California and played basketball at a prestigious high school in North Hollywood. He has one biological brother and two stepbrothers. His parents didn't want any of them to go to a public school, and while he played several sports, basketball was his strongest...
He Played With Three Colleges
McBroom spent his college career with three different universities. First he played for Central Michigan, then St. Louis, and lastly Eastern Washington. Despite being one of the ten best scorers in the country, he changed schools so many times because he had problems getting along with coaches...
Catherine Paiz's Trilingual Childhood
Catherine Paiz was born in Montreal, Quebec to immigrant parents from Panama. She speaks English, French, and Spanish. From Canada, she and her mother moved to Tampa, Florida where her mother worked in a hair salon...
Finding Her Career Path
In Tampa, she worked at Baskin-Robbins and Victoria's Secret until finding her way into the modeling world with a job at Azealia Swimwear in Miami. Then, she moved to LA to pursue an acting career. Her success even sent her to China for a while, and she eventually moved back to the US...
Catherine Is Actually Her Middle Name
She goes by her middle name Catherine because she always disliked her actual first name, Dolores. However, she began to appreciate it as she got older because Dolores is the name of her mother's foster mother. She continues to go by Catherine, though, because the name sounds more modern than Dolores and fits her personality better...
Head Over Heels
Catherine was a hopeless romantic her whole life. Even though she always wanted a boyfriend, she didn't actually really like dating that much. When she was ten, a psychic told her that one day she'd be married with three kids...
Reunited After Years Apart
Catherine and her friend went to a party one night and happened to run into Austin McBroom. They'd already known each other for a couple of years, and a few weeks after the party, Austin invited Catherine out on a date. At first, she actually hesitated...
How The Date Went
Austin wouldn't tell Catherine where they were going because he wanted it to be a surprise. He was taken aback by how beautiful she looked and was instantly very nervous. They ended up going to Nobu, an expensive restaurant in Malibu. They ended up having a great time...
Instant Attraction
After their dinner, they realized they had so much in common. After dinner, they went to a movie, and then Austin took Catherine home. They didn't talk for a week after because neither wanted to be the first to reach out considering they were both stubborn. Catherine eventually caved and called Austin and they planned a second date...
Uncertain Future
Despite the strong start their relationship had, Catherine initially wasn't sure whether or not they had a future together. Austin fell in love instantly, but Catherine had been certain she'd be single forever. Luckily, Austin wouldn't let her skepticism sabotage the relationship...
Their First Baby
During Austin's senior year of college, the couple found out Catherine was eight weeks pregnant with their baby. Catherine was living alone in LA at the time but they decided to move in together after the good news. At one point, Catherine thought she had a miscarriage, but it was a false alarm and their daughter Elle was born in 2016...
An Idea Is Born
Now that they had a new baby, McBroom had to find a new way to support his family. A friend suggested the couple start a YouTube channel and make videos because they had two ideal perfect personalities for the Internet. A star athlete and an Instagram influencer would make great content...
YouTube Debut
The ACE Family hit YouTube in July 2016. They titled their first video "ACE Family Q&A" as a way to introduce themselves to the Internet. Their channel is named after the combination of their first names: Austin, Catherine, and Elle...
Their Backstory
The Q&A answered a ton of questions that fans had been asking for a while. They told the story of how they met, which was at a zoo by the elephant enclosure. During the video, they also revealed their biggest pet peeves about each other: Catherine said Austin uses too many paper towels and Austin said Catherine is too stubborn...
Future Plans
The video also revealed that they wanted to have more kids, and Austin said he would love to have a boy someday. Catherine said she'd chosen the name for their daughter when she was sixteen years old. The question about their future careers was up in the air: Austin wanted to play professional basketball and Catherine wanted a line of athletic wear...
Still a Fan-Favorite Channel
The ACE Family uploads videos constantly, and they now have a global audience. Mostly, they share prank videos and daily vlogs that give viewers a glimpse of their everyday life. Their hundreds of videos all have millions of views, and despite the ups and downs of fame, they've still managed to maintain a positive fanbase and create lots of fun content.