David Freiheit Explained
David Freiheit |
Birth Name: | David Freiheit |
Birth Date: | 23 May 1979 |
Occupation: | YouTuber, commercial litigator |
Pseudonym: | Viva Frei |
Years Active: | 2012–present |
Subscribers: | 603,000 |
Views: | 172 million |
Silver Button: | yes |
Silver Year: | 2019 |
Stats Update: | September 21, 2023 |
Headerstyle: | background:#99C955 |
Header1: | Rumble information |
Label2: | Channels |
Data2: | vivafrei |
Label3: | Years active |
Data3: | 2015–present |
Label4: | Subscribers |
Data4: | 412,000 |
David Freiheit (born May 23, 1979), is a Canadian lawyer, former political candidate for the People's Party of Canada[1] and YouTuber under the pseudonym Viva Frei.[2]
Biography
Freiheit grew up in Montreal, Quebec, as the youngest of five siblings born in a Jewish family.[3] [4] He enjoyed creating videos.[5] He studied Creative Arts at Dawson College and received his Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. He then received his civil law degree from Université Laval where he was the editor-in-chief of the university's law journal.
In 2007, Freiheit began practising law, following in the footsteps of his father and older siblings.[6] He worked professionally for the prominent commercial litigation firm Borden Ladner Gervais for six years,[7] but left to be a freelance litigator after his first child to have a more favourable work-life balance,[2] starting a firm called Freiheit Legal.[8]
For the first few years of his YouTube career, Freiheit was a practising commercial litigator, and he struggled to find time to create his videos.[9] In January 2018, he discontinued his litigation practice and turned full-time to YouTube.[10]
On July 22, 2021, Freiheit announced the launch of his campaign to run for Parliament as a member of the People's Party of Canada.[11]
YouTube career
Early content and awards (2014–2019)
Freiheit started his YouTube career in early 2014 by posting videos of him lip syncing to various pop songs while running obstacle courses dressed in a full suit.[12] These videos were not receiving many views, so Freiheit decided to try another style; in late 2014, Freiheit started posting nature-related stunts.[13] [14] He gained popularity when he posted a video of a squirrel picking up his GoPro action camera and carrying it up a tree.[15] [16] Freiheit then started posting videos of stunts involving the use of a drone.[17] [18]
In 2016, Freiheit won a GoPro Award for his use of their cameras in his videos.[19] He won a Shorty Social Good Award for Best Overall YouTube Presence in 2017.[20]
In January 2019, Freiheit was invited by GoPro to be a featured panellist at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[21]
Style change (2019–present)
From 2014 to 2019, Freiheit had accumulated around 60,000 subscribers. In April 2019, he decided that since law-related content was by far his channel's most popular genre, he would change the style of his channel and only post vlogs analysing different current issues from a legal standpoint.[22] [23] He started a second channel, "Viva Family", as a place to maintain his former content style.[24]
Before running for the PPC, Freiheit had classified the political stance he takes on his channel as non-partisan,[25] claiming that the internet, through the use of the terms right-wing or left-wing, only succeeds in "pigeonholing, categorizing, dichotomizing, just reducing a complex individual to either right or left in all of their... beliefs".[26] In an interview, he described his channel's content as including a "pretty decent balance of left and right".
In 2019 attorney Robert Barnes began making live weekly Sunday evening appearances on Freiheit's channel. The series continued on a weekly basis, often featuring a notable guest, where the two discuss recent legal and political event.[27]
In September 2022, Freiheit signed an exclusive video deal with the video platform Rumble.[28] [29] [30] He frequently works in person at the Rumble Miami studio,[31] and was attributed by the company as a key legal contributor to their 2022 proposal for an 'open-source content moderation policy and process'.[32]
Political career
Freiheit ran in the 2021 Canadian federal election to become a Member of Parliament for the People's Party of Canada in the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount.[33] [34] [35] In July 2021, Freiheit created a third channel, "Viva PPC", as a place to feature his political content.[36] He lost his electoral bid, coming in sixth place in the riding with 3.3% of votes.[37]
Electoral record
Notes and References
- News: Henriquez . Gloria . Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount federal riding candidates face off in debate – Montreal . 6 October 2021 . Global News . 15 September 2021.
- Web site: Moore . Karl . From Lawyer To YouTuber: How David Freiheit Found His Niche . Forbes . April 26, 2020 . April 25, 2020.
- Web site: David Freiheit . Freiheit Legal . April 22, 2020 . August 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200808003419/http://freiheitlegal.com/index.php/en/david-freiheit . dead .
- Web site: Why this Jewish YouTube star ran for the People's Party in Montreal . June 13, 2023 .
- Web site: Tang . Pency . Alumni spotlight: David Freiheit . McGill University . April 22, 2020 . March 14, 2019.
- Web site: Know Your Vlawg: An Interview with Viva Frei . June 10, 2020 . September 25, 2019 . June 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200610045605/http://deskofjdogood.com/index.php/2019/09/25/know-your-vlawg-an-interview-with-viva-frei/ . dead .
- Web site: Tison . Florence . D'avocat à YouTubeur . Droit . June 11, 2020 . fr . April 29, 2020.
- News: David Freiheit is the founder of Freiheit Legal Inc., a Montreal boutique law firm specializing in commercial litigation and general corporate law. . June 11, 2020 . Montreal Gazette . August 31, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200611183139/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/David+Freiheit+founder+Freiheit+Legal+Montreal+boutique+firm+specializing+commercial+litigation+general+corporate/7173956/story.html . June 11, 2020 . en-ca.
- Web site: Murphy . Eliza . Dad Spoofs Jason Bourne With Hilarious (Baby) 'Bjorn Identity' Video . ABC News . April 19, 2020 . August 29, 2016.
- Web site: Deshaies . Sarah . Quebec's YouTube stars upload their lives . Montreal Gazette . April 19, 2020 . January 12, 2018.
- Web site: Freiheit . David . I'm Running for Parliament! . Viva Frei . July 23, 2021 . July 22, 2021.
- News: Montreal dad enlists squirrel to help remove daughter's tooth . Hamilton Spectator . April 19, 2020 . June 24, 2016.
- News: Watters . Hayden . How nutty! Montreal dad gets squirrel to yank out daughter's tooth . June 11, 2020 . CBC . June 25, 2016.
- Web site: Hot Water + Freezing Temperature + Camera = Amazing Videos! . Indian Express . April 19, 2020 . January 2, 2018.
- Web site: Sirucek . Stefan . Watch: This Is What Happens When You Give a Squirrel a GoPro . https://web.archive.org/web/20190808094645/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141121-squirrel-gopro-video-selfie-montreal-animals-science/#close . dead . August 8, 2019 . National Geographic . April 19, 2020 . November 22, 2014.
- Web site: Griggs . Mary Beth . This Is What The World Looks Like From a Squirrel's Point Of View . Popular Science . April 19, 2020 . August 9, 2016.
- Web site: Prestwich . Emma . David Freiheit, Quebec Man, Uses Drone To Wax His Leg . Huffington Post . April 19, 2020 . December 7, 2016.
- News: Quebec father-daughter duo get park squirrels to yank out baby tooth from girl's mouth . National Post . April 19, 2020 . June 24, 2016.
- Web site: GoPro Awards: Squirrel Runs Off With GoPro . GoPro . April 19, 2020 . August 12, 2016.
- Web site: Breakout YouTuber – Winner in YouTube Presence . Shorty Awards . April 19, 2020.
- Web site: David Freiheit invited to the CES in Las Vegas . CTV News Breakfast Television . April 22, 2020 . January 21, 2019.
- Web site: Mendes . David . David Freiheit – Merging Law, Popularization, and Content Creation . Papa Phd . June 11, 2020 . October 10, 2019.
- Web site: David Freiheit, l'avocat YouTubeur . Les Affaires . June 11, 2020 . fr . April 21, 2020.
- Web site: Macdavid . Thomas . A Montrealer Turned His Street Into A Massive Sock Dartboard To Play From The Roof (Video) . MTL . April 23, 2020 . April 22, 2020.
- Web site: Viva Frei . . June 10, 2020 . April 27, 2020 . 11:10 (timestamp).
- Web site: Viva Frei . . June 10, 2020 . April 27, 2020 . 2:10 (timestamp).
- Web site: Freiheit . David . EP. 1 – Viva & Barnes: Robert Barnes – From Covington Catholic to Alex Jones . YouTube.com . Viva Frei . Nov 1, 2019 . Nov 9, 2020 .
- Web site: Bloom . Jim . 2022-09-26 . Rumble Inc Stock (NASDAQ: RUM) A Smart Bet . 2022-10-11 . Insider Financial . en-US.
- Web site: 2022-09-06 . Livestreamer VivaFrei Signs Exclusive Deal with Rumble, Drops YouTube as Primary Platform . 2022-10-11 . Rumble . en.
- News: Livestreamer VivaFrei Signs Exclusive Deal with Rumble, Drops YouTube as Primary Platform . 19 October 2022 . Yahoo News . PR Newswire . September 6, 2022 . October 19, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221019171609/https://www.yahoo.com/now/livestreamer-vivafrei-signs-exclusive-deal-130000967.html . dead .
- News: Rumble Opens New Studio For Content Creators in Longboat Key, Florida . 19 December 2023 . Yahoo Finance . 7 March 2023.
- Rumble Proposes an Open-Source Content Moderation Policy & Process to Improve Transparency & Put Creators First . PR Newswire . Rumble . 23 November 2022.
- Web site: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount David Freiheit . PPC . July 27, 2021.
- News: Ceausu . Joel . Election 2021: NDG–Westmount . 5 October 2021 . The Suburban . 4 September 2021 . en.
- News: Why this Jewish YouTube star ran for the People's Party in Montreal . 19 October 2022 . The Canadian Jewish News . October 12, 2021.
- Web site: Viva PPC . David Freiheit . YouTube . August 18, 2021 .
- Web site: Election Results – September 20, 2021 Federal Election . . 17 February 2022.