A Legal Fissure Appears To Be Taking Shape Among Early Members Of ‘The Hype House’

The buzzy Hype House is home to many of TikTok’s biggest stars — and the business concept blew up in the press in early January, as the House and many of its members were signed to Hollywood’s top talent agencies.

But in a development that illuminates the complexity of collaboration, Insider reports that a potentially nasty legal fissure may be brewing between two of the organization’s early members: 20-year-old influencer Daisy Keech (pictured above, left), and frequently-credited Hype House co-founder Thomas Petrou (above, right) — a 20-year-old vlogger who was formerly affiliated with Jake Paul‘s OG creator collective, Team 10.

Though Petrou and 17-year-old eboy Chase Hudson have frequently been credited as co-founders of The Hype House in the press (and the duo maintain those designations today, sources tell Insider), Keech — who no longer lives at The Hype House — began proclaiming herself a co-founder in her Instagram bio (where she counts 3 million followers) in January. Her attorney subsequently began reaching out to news outlets requesting that she be credited accordingly in any press hits, per Insider. Keech then began filing applications to trademark ‘The Hype House’ on Jan. 7.

Keech tells Insider that she and Petrou met at the Team 10 house, where he expressed the desire to create his own creator collective. Then, Petrou met Hudson, she recounts, and ultimately brought the rest of the crew together. (Today, The Hype House comprises roughly twenty members, Insider reports, ranging in age from 15 to 22). As the House blew up in the media, however, Keech says she felt sidelined, and failed to speak up about her perceived role in the formation of the group.

Keech’s lawyer, Chris Young, tells Insider that frustrations came to a head when Petrou referenced Hype House merch in an Instagram post in January, whereupon he received a cease-and-desist letter, requesting that he obtain Keech’s consent before using the name. Then, in February, another application to trademark ‘The Hype House’ was filed by a company called The Hype House LLC — with one of the primary contacts on the application being listed as Hudson’s father, Cole.

“I’m not being portrayed as who I really am — the business mind that I do have and everything that I brought to The Hype House and did for The Hype House,” Keech tells Insider. “So I just got a little bit frustrated, you know? And I wanted to come and share my story.”