Jon Cozart

Jon Cozart
In a 2016 Vlogbrothers video
Birth name	Jonathan Charles Cozart
Born	(1992-04-26) April 26, 1992 (age 32) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Education	University of Texas at Austin
Years active	2010–present
Genres	Comedy music parody music satire
YouTube information
Channel	Paint
Subscribers	4.54 million[1]
Total views	569.51 million[1]
Network	Sarah Weichel Management
Associated acts	Peter Hollens Thomas Sanders Dodie Clark Brandon Rogers Pomplamoose Jacksfilms
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: November 26, 2024

Jonathan Charles Cozart (born April 26, 1992), also known by his online alias Paint, is an American YouTube personality, musician, and comedian. As of November 2024, his main YouTube channel has 4.54 million subscribers.

Personal life

Cozart was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Houston, Texas, from the age of six.[2] After graduating from Cypress Creek High School in 2011,[3] he moved to Austin, Texas and studied film at University of Texas. Cozart took piano lessons as a child.[2]

Cozart is bisexual, and came out publicly in June 2017.[4]

In late January 2022, he announced on Instagram that he has been in a relationship with Sarah Sharpe since early 2021.[5]

Career

YouTube career

His YouTube channel "Paint", an account gifted to him by his brother,[6] was created on December 27, 2005, and has over 4.63 million subscribers as of May 2023. Cozart's career in video started in middle school as a way to avoid writing papers, offering to make videos instead, and he continued this through high school.[7]

On July 17, 2011, Cozart uploaded "Harry Potter in 99 Seconds", which quickly became a viral video, with 61 million views as of November 2022.

Cozart grew his audience on YouTube with his Disney parody videos, which place Disney Princesses into modern circumstances through a cappella layering of his own voice to supply the music. "After Ever After" was uploaded in 2013, and has amassed 94 million views as of November 2022. "After Ever After 2" was released in 2014 and "After Ever After 3" was released in 2018.[8] He then went on hiatus after November of that year, but returned in October 2020 with the video "If Trump Was In Hamilton."

Live shows

In 2015, Cozart performed his own one-man show, "Laughter Ever After", at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His live performance of musical comedy was well-reviewed by attendees, stating, "Jon Cozart delights with his witty, heartfelt music."[9]

Cozart joined fellow YouTube musicians Dodie Clark, Tessa Violet, and Rusty Clanton in 2016 for selected shows of the small and intimate Transatlantic Tour along the east coast.[10]

Other work

Cozart hosted the 7th Streamy Awards on September 26, 2017. His hosting turn was described as "vicious" by Newsweek, and the show included a musical number in which Cozart compared nominee Jake Paul to then-U.S. President Donald Trump.[11] Cozart described his approach as satirizing the perceived "hypocrisy of the new media industry."[12]

Cozart played the role of Donny Meadows in the 2020 web series Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye, and the role of the bard Diedrich Knickerbocker in Shipwrecked Comedy's 2022 web series Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story.[13]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Nominee	Result
2016	Streamy Awards – Collaboration	Jon Cozart and Various Creators for "YouTube Culture: A Song"	Nominated[14]
2017	Streamy Awards – Collaboration	Jon Cozart and Thomas Sanders for "RIP Vine: A Song"	Nominated[15]

References

1. "About Paint". YouTube.
2. Cavna, Michael (March 15, 2013). "Student finds viral fandom by satirizing Disney princess tales with 'After Ever After'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
3. Jensen, Clare; Buckner, Kennan (August 2013). "Prodigy for Parodies" (PDF). Cy-Fair Magazine. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
4. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
5. "Jon Cozart on Instagram: "😻 happy one year anniversary to my gf of 12 months!! A few things about her: she's a great cover when u need to..."". Retrieved January 30, 2022.
6. Klassen, Anna (March 18, 2013). "'After Ever After': 13 Questions With YouTube Sensation Jon Cozart". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
7. "A cappella darling Jon Cozart is making the jump from YouTube to the stage". The Daily Dot. March 19, 2015. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
8. "Paint - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
9. "Jon Cozart – Laughter Ever After". BroadwayBaby. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
10. "Transatlantic Tour featuring Dodie Clark , Tessa Violet, Rusty Clanton, Jon Cozart". Live Nation. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
11. Gaudette, Emily (September 27, 2017). "2017 Streamys End with Vicious Song About Donald Trump, YouTube Star Jake Paul". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
12. Nguyen, Terry (September 27, 2017). "Streamy Awards: Diversity, Politics Are Hot Topics as YouTube Stars Walk the Red Carpet". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
13. "Wayward Guide". Tin Can Brothers. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
14. "6th Annual Winners & Nominees". Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
15. "7th Annual Nominees". Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2017.

External links

• Paint on YouTube
• Jon Cozart on Twitter