Blair Zoń, creator of the viral podcast iilluminaughtii, describes the show as “just a pyramid against pyramid schemes.” The series covers corporate scams and controversies surrounding some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Here, NetInfluencer explores the details of the iilluminaughtii podcast, including its history, format, and reach.

The Creator Behind the Podcast

American YouTuber Blair Zoń is better known online as iilluminaughtii. She is a part of the collaboration channel Sad Milk, which disbanded in 2021. Sad Milk was a collective of content creators who focused on reactions to various online posts, memes and images. It consisted of Blair, and three other members: Oz Media, Wonderstruck Guy, and Damien Lee. 

In February of 2021, Blair came under controversy herself after a tipster released a video titled “YouTuber iilluminaughtii wants to silence her critics.” The video creator documented Blair’s alleged harassment of someone named Madison as well as her alleged abuse of copyright laws. Blair later issued an apology video, admitting she acted immaturely. The following April, more content was released by another creator named RingManofChaos. Those videos contained additional allegations of inappropriate behavior towards other creators and her fans.

Blair started the iiluminaughtii YouTube account in early May, 2013. She reportedly lives in Colorado with fellow Sad Milk member, Oz Media, and her Samoyed named Casper.

Themes and Topics Covered

On the iilluminaughtii podcast, Blair creates videos about multi-level marketing schemes, companies, and charities. The show has two main series: Multi-Level Mondays and Corporate Casket. Multi-Level Mondays discusses multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, notably doTERRA, Younique, LuLaRoe, and Herbalife. In each episode, Blair goes over the company’s founding, legal troubles, and downfall. The Corporate Casket segment calls out companies and charities, like Autism Speaks and PETA, who have committed questionable or illegal actions.  

Blair also recently launched a new series called Dark Dives, where she explores “the murky and devious depths of humanity.” New episodes are released on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Here are three summaries of recent episodes:

Marilyn Monroe: No Rest Even in Death

As part of Blair’s new Dark Dive series, this episode covers the life and death of famed Hollywood actress, Marilyn Monroe. Described as one of the most famous celebrities to ever walk the earth, Marilyn was no stranger to controversy. She was notoriously pressured to constantly perform and sell products and films. Blair mentions in the show notes that even after her death, Marilyn’s image “has been twisted and turned to represent whatever version of her will make the most money.” Segments of this episode include The Exploitation in Life, Commodifying the Dead, Respect the Dead. and The Horrors of “Blonde”. 

Project Veritas: Journalists or Criminals?

In this episode, Blair explores the right-wing activist group, Project Veritas. The episode covers accusations of the organization’s use of “unsavory methods to discredit mainstream media.” The video covers these methods, which include secret recordings, financial malfeasance, and entering federal buildings under false pretenses. The episode is broken into the following sections: The Notorious Project Veritas, Criminal Activity, and Project Veritas Website. Blair ends the video with a “lightning round” of three specific controversies. This particular episode received over a million views.

PETA’s A, B, C’s: Abuse, Beastiality, and Controversy

Here, Blair dives into controversies surrounding the animal rights activist group, PETA. The show’s description says that PETA claims they are ethical, but some of their “radical campaigns” clouded their message and damaged their reputation over the last decade. The organization is considered the world’s largest kill shelter, yet they’re also known for being one of the largest animal advocates. This episode gets into the details of that discrepancy. Segments of the video include: Background, Kill Shelter, Campaigns, and The Grossest of It.

Reach of The iilluminaughtii Podcast

The iilluminaughtii podcast has 1.67 million subscribers on YouTube. Blair also has 42,000 followers on her Instagram account and 16,500 followers on TikTok. On YouTube, where view statistics are readily available it appears that the average podcast receives between 100,000 views and 300,000 views per episode. Some of the most popular episodes have millions of views.

As of March 2023, the iilluminaughtii podcast was ranked as #184 out of all US podcasts within the Business category on Apple Music. Based on this analysis we estimated that the iilluminaughtii podcast receives 125k-250k listens each time an episode goes out across Apple, Google, Youtube and Spotify podcast networks.

The Format of the Podcast

Each podcast episode of the iilluminaughtii podcast is about 30 minutes long, with new episodes released three times per week. Each episode of iilluminaughtii begins with an overview of the company, individual, or organization in question. Blair then dives into the controversy and any criminal activity surrounding the subject. 

There are no guest features on the show and Blair serves as the sole narrator for each story. On YouTube, each video episode contains a variety of special effects, graphics, and creative editing to make the content engaging. Episodes are created with the help of a team and Blair credits all writers, researchers, and editors in the description box.

Reception and Impact

The iilluminaughtii podcast has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on Apple Podcasts. Fans praise the show for its engaging and interesting content. Critics say Blair can sometimes be too biased towards her own opinions and political beliefs. Since the show’s beginning in mid 2013, podcast episodes posted on YouTube have received a total of over 230 million views.

Conclusion

If you love learning about corrupt organizations and getting all the details on their bad behavior, check out iilluminaughtii. You can listen to Blair Zoń’s podcast on most of the major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Podtail, and Spotify. All episodes are also uploaded to the show’s YouTube channel.