Liza Koshy Owns Who She Is & It's Changing The World

Have you ever stumbled upon a photo of a celebrity and immediately wondered what they were thinking in that very moment? In Elite Daily’s series, I Can Explain…, we’re asking celebrities to revisit their most memorable photos and tell us exactly what was going on in their heads. Whether they open up about an iconic look or a hilarious red carpet incident, we’re traveling back in time to find out what really went down.

In 2013, Liza Koshy joined YouTube. Six years later, Koshy is wandering around the Elite Daily office barefoot with over 17.7 million subscribers. “I'm giving less of a sh*t," she jokes, while reflecting on her accomplishments since joining the video platform. Well-known for her outgoing personality and viral breakup with fellow YouTuber David Dobrik in 2018, Liza Koshy’s commitment to owning who she is continues to be evident online and in real life. “I am always working on myself," she says. "I want [my fans] to know who I really am.”

Koshy is currently dedicated to her latest venture, Liza On Demand, a YouTube Original scripted series. The show, written in collaboration with Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, intimately follows Koshy in Los Angeles as she navigates the complexities of womanhood. The instant success of Liza On Demand, like Koshy's career, reflects the new social media-first entertainment landscape. “YouTube has completely changed entertainment,” Koshy explains. Different from celebrities who might feel an immense amount of pressure to hide the intricacies of their personal lives from the internet, Koshy is celebrated for her candid and frank documentation of her life. Her breakup video with Dobrik — where she and Dobrik cried on-screen and went into the details surrounding their ended relationship — is still one of the couple's most viewed videos. Even when Koshy hosted the Met Gala red carpet for Vogue, her personality was at the forefront of her content. “As a YouTuber, it is such an intimate experience that you have with your audience. I don't take that for granted,” Koshy says.

I want more people to allow themselves to really feel.

Koshy wants to continue to use her platform to help people be more honest about who they are. “I've done a ton of work on myself and I want to be transparent about that," she says. She takes a deep breath before adding, "I want more people to allow themselves to really feel." Koshy herself has done that through Liza On Demand. She says, "I've also met my best friends from YouTube this year. My roommates in Liza On Demand are now my in-real-life roommates and best friends. They make my life so much fuller." Still shoe-less, Koshy adds with a genuine smile, "I'm also just excited to continue to use YouTube to bring people together and change the world."

Before Koshy heads out, she spends about 40 minutes (not an exaggeration) filling in behind-the-scenes deets on this photo with Jared Leto's "head," which was taken at the 2019 Met Gala and has almost 1.5 million likes on Instagram. She didn't disappoint.

Check out Elite Daily's December issue, Like Magic, here!