Fidias Panayiotou
Fidias Panayiotou | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Φειδίας Παναγιώτου | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
| Born | 10 April 2000[1][2] | |||||||||
| Nationality | Cypriot | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2019–present | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 2.48 million[4] | |||||||||
| Total views | 505 million[4] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 28 October 2023 | ||||||||||
| Military career | ||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Cyprus | |||||||||
Fidias Panayiotou (born 10 April 2000 [1]; Greek: Φειδίας Παναγιώτου), known mononymously as Fidias, is a Cypriot YouTuber[5] and independent candidate for the 2024 European Parliament election.[6]
Career[edit]
Panayiotou began posting videos on YouTube in 2019.[7]
On October 8, 2022, Panayiotou began on a mission to hug Elon Musk after having hugged 99 other celebrities.[8] While waiting outside Twitter's headquarters for Musk to appear almost everyday, he encouraged his followers to "spam" Maye Musk on his request, which she described as "malicious".[9] On January 21, 2023, Elon Musk would meet and hug Panayiotou in the headquarters building.[8]
In January 2023, Panayiotou announced on Cypriot television his intention to interview every candidate running for the 2023 Cypriot presidential election.[10] He hosted 12 out of the 14 candidates; with Nikos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavroyiannis, the two front-runners, not accepting his invitation.[11]
Fare evasion videos[edit]
In September 2023, Panayiotou uploaded a video of himself freeriding on the Bengaluru Metro in India.[12] The management of the train service responded that they would be filing a criminal case against him.[13]
On October 20, 2023, he continued with a video on travelling across Japan for free with three other YouTubers. He would travel on public transportation modes such as buses and trains while skipping on paying for his fare through various means, and begging for cash. He would also pass himself off as a guest of a hotel that he was not staying at to help himself to its breakfast. He was criticized for his actions in the video, and made an apology video, which was subsequently deleted. YouTube would also remove this video along with four others, including a 2022 video on travelling across United Kingdom for free, for violating its community guidelines.[7][14][15][16]
As of October 24, 2023, he had 2.38 million subscribers.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ Fidias Panayiotou [@fidias0] (10 April 2020). "I am 24 years old!" – via Instagram.
- ^ "Gypsy Rose Comprehensive Deep Dive – Off The Rails #99". YouTube. 10 January 2024. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ "Από το Μένοικο στο LA – Φειδίας Παναγιώτου" [From Meniko to LA – Phidias Panagiotou]. YouTube (in Greek). 27 January 2023. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023.
- ^ a b "About Fidias". YouTube.
- ^ Yong, Nicholas (25 October 2023). "Fidias: YouTuber sorry for freeloading stunt video in Japan". BBC News. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "Ο Influencer Φειδίας υποψήφιος στις ευρωεκλογές - Η ανακοίνωση στο TikTok". ΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ a b Tan, Kwan Wei Kevin. "A YouTuber is getting dragged for saying he traveled across Japan for 'free' by begging and hiding in train toilets to hitch free rides". Insider. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ a b Dodgson, Lindsay. "Elon Musk finally met the superfan who camped outside Twitter's headquarters for months hoping to hug him". Insider. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ Lloyd, Andrew. "A YouTuber has camped outside Elon Musk's offices for 47 days to try and convince the Twitter CEO to hug him". Insider. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "Φειδίας Παναγιώτου: Ο Κύπριος TikToker ήρθε στο νησί για να κάνει podcast με τους υποψήφιους Προέδρους - Βίντεο". tothemaonline.com (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-03-25.
- ^ Έκανα Συνέντευξη σε 12/14 Υποψήφιους Προέδρους, retrieved 2024-03-26
- ^ "YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou lambasted for sneaking a free ride on Bengaluru Metro". The Indian Express. 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "YouTuber jumps Bengaluru Metro gate, BMRCL says will file criminal case". The Times of India. 2023-09-24. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "Fidias: YouTuber sorry for freeloading stunt video in Japan". BBC News. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ "Fidias Panayiotou: YouTuber apologises for fare dodging, begging and eating without paying in Japan". Sky News. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ a b "Railway operator investigates free-riding foreign YouTubers". The Japan Times. 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2023-10-28.