Meet the YouTube Stars Who Will Interview President Obama
Three YouTube stars will interview the president today at the White House.
-- Destin Sandlin, Ingrid Nilsen and Adande Thorne -- three popular YouTube stars who cover topics ranging from silly to serious -- are set to host a YouTube interview live from the White House today with President Obama.
Taking place in the East Room of the White House, the interview will be live streamed from the White House's YouTube account today at 2:15 p.m. ET. The three interviewers, who among them have more than 10 million subscribers, will also field questions from social media using the hashtag #YouTubeAsksObama.
It's the president's second year being interviewing by a set of YouTube stars. Before you tune in, here's a primer on the three YouTubers who have landed the coveted interview this year.
Destin Sandlin
Destin Sandlin is on a mission to make his viewers smarter.
The full-time engineer from Alabama has more than 3.5 million subscribers to his channel "Smarter Every Day."
"I explore the world using science. That's pretty much all there is to it. Watch 2 videos. If you learn something AWESOME, subscribe," he wrote on his YouTube page.
His videos include "The Backwards Brain Bicycle" and "Hovering a Helicopter Is Hilariously Hard."
The husband and father said on his website that his purpose for making YouTube videos is to teach himself something new, share with the world -- and also use the money he makes from the endeavor to secure his children's college fund.
Ingrid Nilsen
Ingrid Nilsen, also known as Miss Glamorazzi on YouTube, focuses on lifestyle and fashion on YouTube, with recent videos including "Easy Eggy Breakfast For Christmas Morning" and "Workouts For People Who Hate Working Out."
The 26-year-old, who lives in California, has more 3.9 million subscribers and more than 304 million views on her Miss Glamorazzi channel. In June, she came out as gay in a moving video that has racked up nearly 20 million views. While she focuses on lifestyle, Nilsen also shares her life in candid vlogs on a second channel, The Grid Monster, which has nearly 1 million subscribers.
Adande Thorne
Known as "sWooZie" on YouTube, Thorne is a popular animator and vlogger with more than 3.7 million subscribers. On his channel, Thorne produces videos -- many of them animated -- exploring topics including race, love, school and even "How I Met Kim Kardashian."
"In case you're new to my videos, the first thing you need to know is all my storytelling vlogs are 1000% true. I get thrown into a lot of unbelievable situations and I'm always gonna try to go for the most cinematic delivery possible. I get paid to travel and play video games... I mean just that alone should give you an idea of how things work around me," he wrote in his "About" section on YouTube. "The second thing you need to know is that I care a lot about my subscribers. You guys truly are one of the best things thats ever happened to me."
Given his knack for being in outrageous situations, Thorne is probably the most likely of the three to produce this year's most memorable and hilarious moment with the president. Last year, that honor went to YouTube comedian GloZell Green who provided a memorable moment toward the end of her interview with Obama.
The usually sharp-tongued star slipped up when gifting the president with three of her signature green lipsticks, telling him "one for your first wife."
“My first wife!?” Obama exclaimed. "Do you know something I don’t?"
"Ooh, for the first lady!” GloZell corrected herself, her hands on her head. "… and the first children."