featuring @spillsesh
With a background in journalism, including work as a USA TODAY college correspondent, Kristi launched Spill Sesh anonymously in 2018. She built a loyal audience through her detailed coverage of internet culture and creator controversies before revealing her identity in an exclusive with The New York Times in November 2023.
What began as a channel Kristi launched and ran entirely on her own has grown into a thriving media business, with her YouTube channels having amassed 652 million combined views.
Over the past three years, Kristi has expanded her career beyond the channel, signing with UTA, co-founding and co-hosting Studio71’s POPITY, launching her Podium podcast Weekly Teacap, and moving into television development, red carpet reporting and talent interviews with NBC, Netflix, Warner Bros. and Amazon MGM Studios. Confidentially, Kristi is in the early stages of developing a scripted television series loosely inspired by her experiences building Spill Sesh while keeping her identity secret. The project is currently being shopped to networks.
1. November 3 marks three years since you revealed yourself as the creator behind Spill
Sesh. Looking back, how would you describe the person and creator you were before that
moment compared to who you are today?
Before the reveal, I was a voice behind a screen. I was in my early twenties, so passionate about
pop culture, and making videos from my childhood bedroom. I loved it, but I was also kind of
hiding. I was always worried someone would find out before I was ready to tell them!
Today I’m way more confident. I’m still in my twenties, but I’ve grown up a lot in these three years. I’m on camera, I’m on red carpets, I’m interviewing people, I host my own shows. The heart of Spill Sesh is the same, but I finally get to show up as myself.
2. For years, anonymity was a defining part of Spill Sesh. What was the biggest
misconception people had about the person behind the channel, and was there anything
about revealing your identity that surprised you?
The theories were wild! People were convinced it was Shane Dawson’s team, or that it was
voiced by Morgan Adams. A lot of people thought it had to be a whole company, because they
couldn’t believe one person was putting out that many videos. It was just me, at my desk, doing
everything!
What surprised me most was how relieved I felt. I thought I’d be terrified, but the anxiety had
come from hiding, not from being seen. The other surprise was the response. So many people
said it was nice to finally know who they were hearing from, and that it made the content feel
more personal.
3. Your decision to reveal yourself meant giving up a certain level of privacy, but it also
opened doors to opportunities beyond YouTube. Three years later, what would you say
you’ve gained from that decision, and is there anything you miss about being
anonymous?
I gained the chance to grow. For five years Spill Sesh was just a YouTube channel. Now I host my
podcast Weekly Teacap, I have a second channel for interviews, I’m on red carpets, I signed with
UTA, and I’m developing a scripted series. None of that would have happened if I’d stayed a
voice-over.
What I miss is the mystery. It honestly felt like I was Gossip Girl, and that was fun. I also miss
being able to go anywhere without thinking about it. Privacy is the real trade-off, but I’d make the same choice again!
4. You launched Spill Sesh in 2018, initially running the entire operation yourself. At what
point did you realise it had evolved from a personal YouTube project into a genuine media
business?
The first moment was when I could leave my day job. I used to wake up at 4:30 in the morning
and drive two hours to work, and suddenly I could wake up, have an idea and just make it. That’s when I realized this was real.
But the moment it felt like a business was after the face reveal. Opportunities started coming in
faster than I could handle, and about seven or eight months in I felt a little lost. I knew what I
needed and didn’t know how to get it. Building a team, getting a manager and signing with UTA is when Spill Sesh went from my channel to a media brand.
5. With a journalism background that includes working as a USA TODAY college
correspondent, how has your approach to reporting on internet culture changed over the
years? Do you still approach stories with the same journalistic instincts you had when you
first started?
The instincts are the same. Lead with the facts, then build the story around them. That came from studying journalism and working in it for a few years before I started Spill Sesh. What’s changed is my voice. In the beginning my videos were a lot more “my opinion this, my opinion that.” Now, I want Spill Sesh to be a neutral space where people hear every side and decide for themselves.
6. Covering creator controversies often means navigating conflicting accounts, online
speculation and intense audience reactions. How do you balance delivering the stories
people want to hear with ensuring you’re being fair to the individuals involved?
I always remember there are real people behind the headlines. People think we dislike the people we talk about, and that’s not true. Covering someone’s drama doesn’t mean I have anything against them. So I give every side I can find, all the reactions and all the context, and I let the audience form their own opinion. People want the full story, not just the most shocking part. Drama doesn’t have to mean dragging someone. You can hold people accountable without being cruel, and I think that’s why people trust how I tell a story.
7. There’s an interesting shift that comes with becoming a public figure yourself after
spending years reporting on other people’s public lives. Has being on the other side of the
conversation changed the way you approach your coverage?
Definitely. When I was anonymous, I was always the one telling the story. Once my name and
face were out there, I got a little taste of what it’s like to have people talking about you, making
assumptions and forming opinions about who you are without knowing you. It gave me so much
more empathy for the people I cover. It’s made me even more careful. I always did my research, but now I think even harder about tone, about getting every detail right, and about how a story would feel if I were the one in it. That doesn’t mean I’ll shy away from a story. It means I want to make sure I’m being fair, because I know there’s a real person on the other side of every headline.
8. You’ve expanded your career considerably since the face reveal, from launching your
Weekly Teacap podcast and channel Spill Sesh: After Hours. How have these different
platforms allowed you to explore sides of your personality and interests that audiences
might not traditionally see on Spill Sesh?
I think it’s given people the chance to see different sides of my personality. Spill Sesh has always had a pretty specific format. I’m reporting on what’s happening in pop culture, researching stories, and making sure people have the full picture.
Spill Sesh: After Hours has given me the opportunity to have longer conversations with people in
entertainment and explore stories beyond the headlines. And with Weekly Teacap, I get another
space to talk about pop culture in a more relaxed, conversational way. I love being able to
experiment with different formats and not feel like I have to fit into one box. I’ve always loved
entertainment, interviewing people, and telling stories, so getting to explore all of those interests across different platforms has been really exciting. I think the face reveal opened the door for people to get to know me as Kristi, not just the voice behind Spill Sesh, and these projects have allowed that relationship to grow.
9. You’ve also stepped into red carpet reporting and talent interviews with major
entertainment companies, including Netflix, Warner Bros. and Amazon MGM Studios. How
different is interviewing Hollywood talent compared to covering the unpredictable world of
internet culture?
It’s so different, and honestly, interviewing talent is where I feel most in my element. With internet culture, the work happens behind the scenes. Researching, verifying, building timelines and making sure I have the facts straight before I ever hit record. On a red carpet, I’m face to face with the casts of shows I’m genuinely obsessed with. I’m a fan first, so getting to talk to the people behind the shows I’m watching every week never gets old. It just feels natural, like I’m having a conversation I’ve been wanting to have for months. My journalism background helps a lot. Some people get thrown onto carpets with no experience, and I’d be sweating if I hadn’t done interviews before. Because I have, I get to relax and enjoy it. It’s easily one of the best parts of my job. I always walk away so happy.
10. Spill Sesh has accumulated more than 652 million combined YouTube views across its
channels. What do you think has kept audiences coming back, particularly as the creator
commentary space has become increasingly crowded?
I think it’s trust and history. I’ve been covering pop culture since 2018, everything from celebrity
news and TV to internet culture. I was also reporting on creators and influencers before most
traditional outlets took them seriously. I’ve followed these stories for so long that when I reference something from eight years ago, I actually remember it. My audience knows I know the history, and they know I’ve done the research before I post. The other thing is how it feels. I want people to feel like we’re on FaceTime and I’m telling them what happened, like a friend would. I’ve also been really consistent, and I’ve tried not to change what’s working, because people don’t love change. I just keep adding to it.
11. As someone who has watched the influencer industry evolve since 2018, what do you
think has changed most dramatically about the relationship between creators, their
audiences and the media covering them? Are there aspects of today’s creator culture that
concern you?
I think the biggest change is how much the influencer industry has become a part of mainstream entertainment. When I started Spill Sesh in 2018, traditional media wasn’t really paying attention to creators in the same way. Now, influencers are attending premieres, being interviewed by major outlets, and becoming household names. The lines between traditional celebrities and internet creators have really blurred. I think the biggest change is how much the influencer industry has become a part of mainstream entertainment. When I started Spill Sesh in 2018, traditional media wasn’t really paying attention to creators in the same way. Now, influencers are attending premieres, being interviewed by major outlets, and becoming household names. The lines between traditional celebrities and internet creators have really blurred.
12. Finally, as you approach the next chapter of your career, what does success look like for
Kristi Cook beyond Spill Sesh? Are there creative ambitions or opportunities you’d love to
pursue that might surprise your longtime audience?
For me, success is getting to tell stories in as many ways as possible. Spill Sesh will always be
my baby, but I’m really excited to be stepping into television development. I have a few projects in the works that I can’t say too much about yet, but some of them are very close to my heart, and I think my longtime audience is going to love them. It’s been so fun to take everything I’ve learned from YouTube and bring it into a whole new space. I also want to continue doing red carpets and press junkets. I feel so lucky to do so many exciting things, from interviewing Victoria Justice to the DWTS cast. Trust me there are a lot of stories up here. It all started in my childhood bedroom, so everything feels like a bonus.
Socials: Spill Sesh YouTube
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