YouTube Cracks Down: Two Major Channels Pulled Over AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers
YouTube has terminated two high-profile channels with millions of subscribers for peddling AI-generated fake movie trailers, firing a warning shot at creators fueling viral deception on the platform.
YouTube just swung the banhammer on a pair of big channels that pumped out AI-made fake movie trailers. If you spend any time on Movie Internet, you have definitely seen their stuff. And now you will not.
Who got nuked and why
The channels are Screen Culture and KH Studios. Together they racked up more than 2 million subscribers and cleared a billion views pushing slick, made-up trailers as if they were the real thing. Both channels are now gone.
"This page is not available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else."
That is what you get if you try to visit either page.
How we got here
This was not their first run-in with YouTube. Earlier this year, after Deadline dug into the surge of AI-driven fake trailers, YouTube cut off ad revenue for both channels. In response, Screen Culture and KH Studios started tagging uploads with labels like 'fan trailer', 'parody', and 'concept trailer' to look less scammy and get the money flowing again. YouTube saw that as trying to game the system and said the channels violated its rules against spam and misleading metadata. Terminations followed.
- Two terminated channels: Screen Culture and KH Studios
- Scale: 2M+ combined subscribers and 1B+ views
- Past action: ad suspensions earlier this year after a media investigation into AI-fueled fake trailers
- Channel response: relabeled videos as 'fan trailer', 'parody', 'concept trailer' to dodge penalties
- YouTube's rationale: violations of spam and misleading metadata policies
Why this matters (and yes, I have thoughts)
Look, some folks treat fake trailers like harmless fun. I get it. But they spread fast, and a lot of people do not read past a headline or a thumbnail. That turns into a pipeline of nonsense: phony posters, bogus casting 'announcements', and made-up release dates that drown out real info. You have seen the posts. 'Beetlejuice 3 hits Netflix this Christmas!' Sure. Where was the marketing? Where were the trades? Movies do not just materialize out of thin air. There is a process.
What it says about YouTube right now
YouTube clearly decided the relabel-and-monetize strategy crossed a line. Killing two channels of that size is a loud message: if you are building traffic on AI-made trailers that mimic legit studio marketing, the platform is not going to look the other way.
How do you feel about fake trailers? Fun fan edits that should be left alone, or a headache that makes it harder to tell what is real? Ever fallen for one? Tell me.