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Inbred family have donations cut off after blowing £100,000 and causing 'headache'
A family likened to that in the 'Deliverance' movie will no longer receive donations from generous members of the public hoping to support them following a damning reply in an interview
A family largely cut off from much of civilisation have spent the last few years in the limelight thanks to a documentary sky-rocketing them to fame.
Unbeknownst to them, the Whittakers were propelled to fame by the YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly, whose viewers were shocked by the conditions they lived in. Members of the peculiar family suffering from genetic deformities as a result of inbreeding, added to viewers' fascination and want to support them.
Since introducing the multi-generational family to the world through a series of interviews, Mark Laita of Soft White Underbelly set up not one but two fundraisers which have accumulated roughly the equivalent of £100,000 in generous public donations. Mark says he even dipped into his own pocket to pay the tax on the sum which has been drip fed to the Whittakers on their request.
On Monday, however, it all came crashing down on the educationally-challenged clan from Odd in rural West Virginia, US.
Fellow YouTuber Tyler Oliveira uploaded an video investigating the 'poorest region of America' and in it he interviewed who else but the internet sensations themselves, the Whittakers. It was how they responded to a question about money in particular that has left Mark seething to the point of washing his hands of the troop.
Mark says in the hours following Tyler's documentary which has been watched over 1.2million times within 24 hours, he's been treated like a money-grabbing scammer. To address the allegations head on, an intimate and intense Soft White Underbelly video was published and it appears there's now no going back.
"When he asked Betty 'what happened to the money?' and she goes 'I don't know' come on, Betty knows exactly where the money went," Mark fumed. "Look at the Whittakers, their lives have improved greatly since I came into it and the reason for that is because I came through for them every time"
What hurt Mark was the suggestion that the family had barely seen a penny (or cent) of the cash raised for them, intended to afford them a less squalid cabin for a home and eventually a substantial house across the road to move into. The reality of the situation, Mark insists, is the family regularly ask for a few thousand dollars at a time for outgoings unknown to him.
He said: "She calls me every two, three weeks to ask me for more and I always ask her like what are you doing with all this money. You're living in West Virginia, how can you spend so much money like this and she goes' I need it'. But between her and Larry there's a lot of money flowing out of the GoFundMe, it's down to zero now."
This was the final straw for Mark who admits fundraising for the Whittakers and all his interviewees has been "nothing but a headache".
Having shared screenshot evidence of the money transferred, he said: "I'm actually going to discontinue my GoFundMe for the Whittakers I probably won't even do videos with them anymore, it's just left such a bad taste in my mouth after all this.
"The Whittaker one has generated like $130,000 (£102,000) between the $77k and the $55k it is right now so it's roughly $130k I think. They've received according to the list that I put on screen earlier, it's $100,000 right there and then I've given them $25,000 cash when I've seen them giving them five here, five there, four there, three there.
"That's amounted to $25,000 and then consider that 37% of all these donations, taxes need to be paid on that who's going to pay that? So I pay the tax, the 37% tax and everything else goes to the Whittakers."
Aside from the Whittaker's lack of acknowledgement, let alone gratitude for all Mark had done for him, Tyler's approach for his own content has majorly ticked Mark off.
"That's just social media, it's frustrating that's the world we live in.... They've received every dime."
In an attempt for some closure before cutting ties with the family, Mark gave Betty Whittaker a call to check she understood he hadn't held anything back from her.
"I know you've been giving money but I didn't know you been getting money for the house I don't know more," a confused Betty responded.
When asked whether she often asked for money she confirmed: "That's correct." One thing she couldn't remember, however, was chatting to Tyler. Mark quipped: "Well maybe that video was created digitally by somebody."
Daily Star Sunday
A family likened to that in the 'Deliverance' movie will no longer receive donations from generous members of the public hoping to support them following a damning reply in an interview
A family largely cut off from much of civilisation have spent the last few years in the limelight thanks to a documentary sky-rocketing them to fame.
Unbeknownst to them, the Whittakers were propelled to fame by the YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly, whose viewers were shocked by the conditions they lived in. Members of the peculiar family suffering from genetic deformities as a result of inbreeding, added to viewers' fascination and want to support them.
Since introducing the multi-generational family to the world through a series of interviews, Mark Laita of Soft White Underbelly set up not one but two fundraisers which have accumulated roughly the equivalent of £100,000 in generous public donations. Mark says he even dipped into his own pocket to pay the tax on the sum which has been drip fed to the Whittakers on their request.
On Monday, however, it all came crashing down on the educationally-challenged clan from Odd in rural West Virginia, US.
Fellow YouTuber Tyler Oliveira uploaded an video investigating the 'poorest region of America' and in it he interviewed who else but the internet sensations themselves, the Whittakers. It was how they responded to a question about money in particular that has left Mark seething to the point of washing his hands of the troop.
Mark says in the hours following Tyler's documentary which has been watched over 1.2million times within 24 hours, he's been treated like a money-grabbing scammer. To address the allegations head on, an intimate and intense Soft White Underbelly video was published and it appears there's now no going back.
"When he asked Betty 'what happened to the money?' and she goes 'I don't know' come on, Betty knows exactly where the money went," Mark fumed. "Look at the Whittakers, their lives have improved greatly since I came into it and the reason for that is because I came through for them every time"
What hurt Mark was the suggestion that the family had barely seen a penny (or cent) of the cash raised for them, intended to afford them a less squalid cabin for a home and eventually a substantial house across the road to move into. The reality of the situation, Mark insists, is the family regularly ask for a few thousand dollars at a time for outgoings unknown to him.
He said: "She calls me every two, three weeks to ask me for more and I always ask her like what are you doing with all this money. You're living in West Virginia, how can you spend so much money like this and she goes' I need it'. But between her and Larry there's a lot of money flowing out of the GoFundMe, it's down to zero now."
This was the final straw for Mark who admits fundraising for the Whittakers and all his interviewees has been "nothing but a headache".
Having shared screenshot evidence of the money transferred, he said: "I'm actually going to discontinue my GoFundMe for the Whittakers I probably won't even do videos with them anymore, it's just left such a bad taste in my mouth after all this.
"The Whittaker one has generated like $130,000 (£102,000) between the $77k and the $55k it is right now so it's roughly $130k I think. They've received according to the list that I put on screen earlier, it's $100,000 right there and then I've given them $25,000 cash when I've seen them giving them five here, five there, four there, three there.
"That's amounted to $25,000 and then consider that 37% of all these donations, taxes need to be paid on that who's going to pay that? So I pay the tax, the 37% tax and everything else goes to the Whittakers."
Aside from the Whittaker's lack of acknowledgement, let alone gratitude for all Mark had done for him, Tyler's approach for his own content has majorly ticked Mark off.
"That's just social media, it's frustrating that's the world we live in.... They've received every dime."
In an attempt for some closure before cutting ties with the family, Mark gave Betty Whittaker a call to check she understood he hadn't held anything back from her.
"I know you've been giving money but I didn't know you been getting money for the house I don't know more," a confused Betty responded.
When asked whether she often asked for money she confirmed: "That's correct." One thing she couldn't remember, however, was chatting to Tyler. Mark quipped: "Well maybe that video was created digitally by somebody."
Daily Star Sunday