Tana Mongeau Opens Up About Alleged Underage Hookup With YouTuber Cody Ko

Rumors that the pair had slept together when Mongeau was underage have circulated for years, but this on-stage allusion to an inappropriate relationship led fans of Ko to demand that the comedian, podcaster, and rapper — who married to YouTuber Kelsey Kreppel last year, with the couple becoming parents in January — make a statement acknowledging Mongeau’s story. Weeks after it first started making the rounds, he has yet to address the topic.

Mongeau, meanwhile, has recently sought to clarify her feelings about what happened between them almost a decade ago. “To be 100 percent truthful, when I look back at the Cody situation, I definitely am, like, ‘Why was he doing that?’” she said in an episode of Cancelled last weekend. She recalled an event at which singer and influencer Gabbie Hanna pulled Ko aside and told him Mongeau was only 17, but the two left and hooked up anyway. “I can look at that and be like, ‘Why the fuck were you doing that?’” she said.

“But I don’t associate it or hold it with trauma,” Mongeau, who turned 26 on Monday, explained, “because I’m such a comparative person, where I’m like, so many worse things have happened to me. And that’s bad. But I genuinely feel that way.” She went on to describe how she grew up loving Ko’s content and was a fan excited to spend time with him. “And I understand where now, as a grown adult, that you can say: You were taken advantage of.”

Last week, Mongeau also guested on Just Trish, the podcast of friend Trisha Paytas, and discussed her past with Ko, which she again stressed was not traumatic for her. However, she said, “If I had a 17-year-old daughter or little sister” in the same situation, “I would kill.”

“But the thing that was actually really heartbreaking to me, and kind of crazy to me, is after it started going viral, seeing so many people not believing me,” Mongeau continued. “Being like, ‘It’s Tana, so who cares.’ And then I started feeling bad for so many other girls who maybe look up to me and want to speak their truth and see the way that people just don’t believe people.” Paytas and Mongeau agreed that they both tend to make light of darker moments in their lives as a way of coping with them. “You want to feel in control of your own narrative,” Mongeau said.

Ko fans on the dedicated subreddit r/codyko have been split on the allegation, with some doubting Mongeau’s account and others arguing that she was victimized. “Mostly makes me sad for her,” reads one recent comment. “I hope she gets a private apology.” In a top-trending thread, another redditor asked for YouTube alternatives to Ko and his Tiny Meat Gang Studios podcast network. “In light of the situations with Cody’s past, it’s difficult for me to look at him the same way,” they wrote. “I really enjoyed watching content like his, though. Any recommendations for YouTubers with content that is similar to his?” 

On another subreddit, r/CodyKoUnfiltered, a forum meant to be a haven from the “censorship” of r/codyko, criticism of Ko was far more pointed, with users complaining that they have been banned from the main subreddit for bringing up Mongeau. “Putting the entire back and forth of whether it happened or not aside, the fact [Ko is] not even addressing all this has been extremely off-putting,” wrote one disillusioned person. “It’s pure ignorance. I’ve been a Cody fan for the longest time but I genuinely can’t bring myself to watch his videos anymore.”