Joey Graceffa on the $60,000 coming out music video that became his audience’s ‘gay awakening’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Speaking with Attitude, Graceffa shares what his coming out music video meant to him and his following, discusses his newfound audience, and addresses relationship rumours with ex-boyfriend Daniel Preda
By Aaron Sugg
YouTube royalty Joey Graceffa made history as one of the first major content creators to publicly come out as gay through a $60,000 (£44,600) music video in 2015.
The landmark video helped cement his place as a pioneer in online LGBTQ+ representation, contributing to the success of his channel, which has grown to 9.38 million subscribers.
From his love of gaming and shirtless Minecraft videos to creating his own online series Escape the Night, Joey has built a career on entertainment and community.
“It was such a beautiful piece of art” – Joey Graceffa on his coming out music video
One of his most viewed YouTube videos to date is his coming out music video, titled ‘Don’t Wait’, which cost $60,000 to produce.
“It was such a beautiful piece of art,” Graceffa tells Attitude. “Sometimes it’s the videos that you put the least amount of effort into that get the viral hits and become something more than the ones that you put so much money and effort into.”
“I was so thrilled that it had such a strong reception and became what it did,” says the online star. Though the video holds much more meaning than its price tag.
Graceffa says his music video became a “gay awakening” for queer viewers
“And also the social impact that had on queer kids growing up and allowing them to have their gay awakening and whatnot,” Graceffa continues.
As the video continues to gain momentum 11 years on, Graceffa reflects on his thought process behind coming out to the public in such a creative way.
“I needed to separate myself from just like with the shirtless gaming channel, like I had to be innovative,” he explains, because there were several coming out videos released in the same year.
An unintentional coming out video
He initially wanted to come out in his book In Real Life, which was released a few days after his coming out music video.
“I was like, I could use this as a way to market the book. That was essentially where I initially wanted to come out in, because it gave the full story from start to finish.”
Graceffa explains that the video goes through the themes of the book, “but in a more fantastical way and [with me] kissing a boy at the end.” That kiss would eventually become how he came out to the world before his book’s release.
Are Joey Graceffa and Daniel Preda still together?
In his fantasy-style prince-on-prince video, he ends the project by kissing Daniel Preda, whom he was in a relationship with from 2014 to 2020. The pair remain friends today and regularly collaborate online.
“He’s actually at my house right now,” Graceffa shares, while confirming that the pair are both single. “I think we’ve always been at different parts of either wanting to get back together or not, and it just has never been like something either of us have been in the same space to want to do at the same time.”
Graceffa’s YouTube career has seen him through several different eras, more recently sharing his love for animals online by rescuing dogs and cats and giving them new homes.
A growing audience
His new era has welcomed him to a whole new audience. “My audience is like Facebook moms,” says Graceffa. “I will get recognised at Marshalls now.”
This began in 2020, when he rescued a pregnant cat who gave birth in his home in Los Angeles, California. “I just loved the process of documenting it all, and my audience really liked it.”
The moment caught the attention of a rescue shelter that would later work with Graceffa for future videos, where he continues helping rescue dogs, both old and new. “I just want to take them away from this terrible hellhole that they’re living in and give them a much better future.”
He describes animal rescue as an “addiction”. “Just seeing the love in their eyes and just how sweet they were, it just felt so fulfilling to my soul to get to do that.”