She told others to put away their cameras. But she eventually posted video herself. Yuta Lerdam, fiancee of Jake Paul and an Olympic speedskating gold medalist, was caught up in a "hypocrisy controversy" after a charity soccer event.
The British Daily Mail reported on the 27th (Korean time) that fans have been fiercely criticizing Lerdam as hypocritical. It said she criticized a streamer who was filming her at the charity match, but later released her own vlog of the same event.
The controversy began at the Celsius Soccer Classic. While warming up before the match, Lerdam appeared uncomfortable when teammate Marlon Garcia was filming a vlog. She told Garcia, "You film vlogs too much. Put the camera away and focus on the ball."
The scene spread quickly online. Lerdam's fiance, Jake Paul, also immediately stepped in. Through social media, he targeted streamers and defended Lerdam with the gist that "you met a real person who has no interest in your broadcast at all." Up to that point it looked like the action of a player demanding focus on the match.
The problem came next. Lerdam later posted behind-the-scenes footage of the same charity event on her TikTok. The video included pregame stretching, scenes of riding the bus to the stadium, and the highlights of her playing in the soccer match. The person who earlier told others to "put the camera away" ended up producing her own content.
Fans reacted immediately. One fan pointed out, "Didn't she say cameras interfere with focusing on the game?" Another fan jabbed, "But she's doing the exact same thing." Responses continued: "Why record? Focus and immerse yourself," and "You make content on a platform — is it only wrong when he does it?"
The criticism is harsher because Lerdam's fiance is Jake Paul. Jake Paul is one of the most famous content creators in the world and a boxer. From fans' perspective, it looked inevitably contradictory that Lerdam, engaged to a leading figure in the content industry, criticized other streamers' filming and then posted her own video.
But judging by the match result alone, Lerdam's focus paid off. Her team beat the opposing team, made up of influencers, 5-1. The event itself also concluded successfully, raising $15,000 in charity funds. Still, aside from the achievement, the controversy has not died down.
Lerdam raised her profile in the U.S. earlier this year by winning a speedskating gold medal at the Milan Cortina competition. She became engaged to Jake Paul in March 2025. Paul is recovering from a fractured jaw sustained in a KO loss to Anthony Joshua in December last year.
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