Dhar Mann Studios

Dharminder "Dhar" Mann (born: ) is an American self-proclaimed entrepreneur, film director, writer, producer, and YouTuber. He owns a film studio named Dhar Mann Studios, which focuses on motivational and inspirational quotes and videos. He is also the CEO of LiveGlam, a company which focuses on selling makeup products. He also has a vlogging channel named Dhar and Laura, along with several other channels related to his videos.
==Content==
Dhar Mann is best known for his motivational and inspirational videos which seek to teach life lessons. They usually involve a person acting in the worst ways possible: the antagonist of the story. Towards the end of the video, the person learns a valuable lesson, or in some cases when they do not, karma backfires on to them. Most videos then end with Dhar emphasizing the value of that lesson or skill. Some of the lessons taught in these videos range from things like never judging someone solely on appearance, to being grateful for what one has. Channels like his and DramatizeMe also have irony as a crucial part in their videos. Several of these videos are based on true events.
Very frequently, Dhar features other influencers and well-known content creators, and does biographies on how they became famous. One such video was on his wife, Laura. However, these videos are somewhat embellished and dramatized retellings of their lives.
In November 2022, Dhar Mann briefly uploaded new episodes for six days a week, before he continued to upload only four shortly afterwards, starting in January 2023. He returned to uploading five days a week in March of the same year. From June 3 to early July 2024, he uploaded videos on a daily basis, but later went back to uploading only five times a week, albeit unannounced.
In June 2023, Dhar started a spinoff series called The Jay and Mikey Show, with cast members Shaun Dixon (Jay) and Kaido Lee Roberts (Mikey) portraying the titular duo. Videos within this series focus more on their social life, and the genre is closer to a slice-of-life dramedy. The videos still place emphasis on life lessons, albeit through the lens of high school students navigating the ins and outs of friendship.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnBCOhf_VBTXxkegxRHy3DHdnaJzTxHQc&si=OEXhMLZVOJv1yQZshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnBCOhf_VBTVHyYcheVPZ4inLOOYnuCVu&si=C_A9xQT4k2WjtDbB
==Career==
Dhar Mann studied at UC Davis, earning degrees in Economics and Political Science. Several years before starting the Dhar Mann channel, he was working with real-estate, having three offices, over 25 employees and funding real-estate, all before he turned 21 years old. To this day, he is still involved with real-estate dealings. In 2007, he founded a real-estate property management company and continued his business ventures.
In 2008, Mann started a luxury transportation company and expanded his fleet to include exotic vehicles in 2009. However, also in 2009, he went into prohibition for scamming 13 companies, selling marijuana, and defrauding in Oakland, California; gathering around $80,000 in modern standards. However, he was let off early.
In 2015, Mann founded LiveGlam, a subscription makeup club that sends members a new selection of luxury cosmetics every month. Within two years of founding the company, he had grown the company to over 1 million social media followers and 8-figures in revenue. He and television producer Ann Druyan were both involved in early 21st-century efforts to change marijuana law. At this time, Druyan served as President of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
==Actors==
===Main actors===
These are the actors or guests that work in Dhar Mann's short films.
*Ayden Mekus
*Eliot
*Devon Weetly
*Katherine Norland
*Charlotte Pulley
*Leah Mei Gold
*Shaun Dixon
*Kaido Lee Roberts
*Shauntè Massard
*Becky Brown
*Melvin Ward
*Neela Jolene
*Emmanuel Royal
* Lin Gothoni
*Kiarra Beasley
*Ashley Aguilar
*Jovanna Vidal
*Armando Rey
*Jacob Childress
*Elizabeth Lamboy-Wilson
*Ayana Taylor
*Nathaniel Sanchez
*Julie Ann Serrano
*Asger Folmann
*Yvonne Miranda
*Brendan Schroeder
*Frankie Anthony Velasquez
*Danny Delloyd
*Sean Harris
*Madhulika Krishnan
*Azeem Vecchio
*Alison Robertson
*Averi White
*Shannon Mano
*Rebecca Ritz
*Jose Rosete
*Moses Matthew Jackson
*Chris Ready
*Winston Vengapally
*Banks Pierce
*Socorro Jones
*Branddon Antonio
*Nick Darnell
*Daniel Prikazsky
*Mark Andrew Richards
*Jeanne Carr
*Jackie Cong Tran
*Valerie Eve
*Megan Cochrane
*Angelee Vera
===Former actors===
*Mair Mulroney
*Vinn Sander
*Carlos R. Chavez
*Colin A Borden
*Riki Yvette Westmoreland
*Sofia Chicorelli Serna
*Chas Laughlin
*Nathan Ing
*Dylan J. Harris
*Nick Sarando
*Michael Vaccaro
*Jazlyn Nicolette Sward
*Kali Jane
*Sarah Moliski
*E.P. Evans
*Shaelan Bowers
*Mikael Mattsson
*Rachel Christianson
*Brianni Walker
===Deceased actors===
These are the actors who used to appear in Dhar Mann's videos before they passed away. 
*Carl Judie † (July 11, 1958 – February 14, 2021 [aged 62]): In Mann's videos, he usually plays either a homeless/poor person who is grateful for anything he can get, or a friendly gentleman who teaches stingy and heartless people the right things and ways of life. Judie passed away on February 14, 2021, after being in a coma for a while.
*William Knight † (December 6, 1933 - November 8, 2022 [aged 88]): He first appeared in a video titled "Rich Landlord Decides To Evict His Poor Tenant, Instantly Regrets It", as the tenant named Josh, at the age of 86. His final cast episode was on "FAKE TRAINER Gives GRANNY HEART ATTACK," as the character Larry. Knight died on November 8, 2022, but his cause of death is currently unknown.
===Guest stars===
These are the actors and YouTubers who have been featured as guest stars in Dhar Mann's videos.
*SSSniperWolf
*Nas Daily
*Cody Ko
*Lewis Howes
*Jay Shetty
*Grant Cardone
*Jamie Kern Lima
*FaZe Rug
*Cole LaBrant (from The LaBrant Fam)
*Supercar Blondie
*The Royalty Family
*BigBoyTV
*Stokes Twins
*Ben Azelart
*MrBeast
*Brent Rivera
*Pierson
*Adam W
*Dwarf Mamba
*The Anazala Family
*Rosanna Pansino
*Tony Jeffries
*KreekCraft
*Lilly Singh
===Recurring characters===
These are the characters who frequently appear in Dhar Mann's videos besides himself:
*Allison Day (a parody of Addison Rae)
*Sam/Psychomantis
*SSSniperWolf (as herself)
*MrFeast (a parody of MrBeast)
*Frank the Prankster (played by Devon Weetly)
*Jordan
*Jay (Mikey's friend; played by Shaun Dixon)
*Isaac
*Mikey (Jay's friend; played by Kaido Lee Roberts)
*Jayden
*Billy
*Baljeet
*May
*"Karen" (played by various actresses)
*Evelyn Phillips (unmentioned and unnamed)
*Sophia
*Noah
==Personal life==
Dhar Mann is engaged to award-winning model Laura Gurrola and they have two daughters named Ella Rose and Myla Sky, who was born on . Since Dhar is of Indian descent and Laura is Hispanic, their daughters are mixed and biracial. Mann is the son of Oakland, California entrepreneurs Baljit and Surinder Singh, who are founders of a taxi company.
He once bought Khloe Kardashian's $15.5 million home. Prior to his engagement to Laura, Dhar dated Lily Ghalichi.
==YouTube history==
===Other channels===
===Worldwide channels===
===Break===
On December 29, 2021, he announced on the community tab that he would take a 2-3 month break from December to February due to "COVID back on the rise" and to slow their productions. He came back on February 1, 2022, when he started uploading new videos on premiere.
==Criticism and controversies==
===Videos with toxic positivity===
Even though Dhar's intention is to send good messages, sometimes he can give out bad ones. For example, in this video, a husband emotionally abuses his wife, but upon him apologising, the wife starts trusting him again. This is repeated. Rob Gavagan made a 30 minute-video chronicling the unhealthy messages.
In another video, Dhar portrays a young person who steals his mother's credit card to play games as in the right, and designates his mom, who tells him to get a job and takes away his Xbox, as in the wrong. Ironically, in another video, he portrayed a kid who stole his mother's card for Roblox as in the wrong and the mom in the right despite her being very harsh with him. 
===Videos containing racism===
In the video "Mom ACCUSES Her Son's Black Friend Of Stealing, INSTANTLY REGRETS IT! | Dhar Mann", a racist white woman stops being racist after her son's friend (who is black) gives him an expensive laptop, as his dad is the Vice President of one of the biggest companies of the world. In the end, the white woman says she never should have judged him before getting to know him. The moral (unintentionally) is that minorities need to prove themselves to white people to earn their respect. She also only stops being racist because the kid comes from wealth and does something that benefits her and that gives out the moral "make sure you're not talking to a rich person before being racist." Jarvis Johnson called out these occurrences in a video.
According to Jarvis Johnson, the actress who played the racist mother, Katherine Norland, messaged him after he reacted to the video and tried to defend the video despite its controversial nature and said that all Dhar Mann was trying to do was to spread a good message.
This is not the first time Dhar's videos have shown racists in a sympathetic light, as in another video, an Asian woman is the victim of racist harassment and blamed for the COVID-19 pandemic by a white woman. Later, she decides to stop being racist because the Asian woman is a doctor and was treating her daughter. This was once again criticized for conveying the idea that minorities have to prove themselves to white people to earn their respect.
===Over-exaggeration===
====Portrayal of law====
LegalEagle pointed out that in Dhar's video depicting the justice system, since the main character, (a lawyer played by Colin A Borden) did not turn over evidence to the defense, he committed a , but this was never acknowledged by anyone. Despite having evidence, he did not file a motion for a new trial. The video was also criticized for portraying sentencing as something that happens in a day while it usually takes months, and portraying conviction as something that can easily be undone, while in reality it is extremely difficult and rare for convictions to be overturned. LegalEagle called it "insanity" and "the most unrealistic thing [he'd] ever seen."
In another video, Dhar portrayed a felon who dealt drugs in the past and was subsequently arrested, becoming a teacher at a children's school. AugustTheDuck pointed out that since Dhar's videos were based in California, this would not have been possible, as in most American states, if one is convicted of consuming drugs, they cannot be a teacher.
====Clickbait====
In August 2022, a video titled "Kid GETS TRAPPED In MINECRAFT, What Happens Next Is Shocking | Dhar Mann" actually showed a child dreaming about being in Minecraft, while not actually being in it. He also uploaded a video titled "Kid DITCHES SCHOOL To THROW PARTY, He Lives To Regret It | Dhar Mann", but the kid does not "live to regret it" – at the end of the video he successfully ditches school and doesn't get in trouble.
===Narcissism and psychological analysis===
====Narcissism====
In his video response to PewDiePie and CinnamonToastKen's criticism, actor Ayden Mekus has a line which says, "You're Dhar Mann. Everyone loves you!" Most videos would claim that his merchandise would be a trend bigger than it is today.
Dhar is also criticized for often plugging his merchandise in videos, and in some of his videos, he promotes himself as a celebrity and brags about his accomplishments and wealth. He is also criticized for over-exaggerating his accomplishments and even faking them at some points. On September 21, 2021, Dhar Mann uploaded a video titled "No One Asks BALD GIRL To The PROM, What Happens Is Shocking", which was criticized for Dhar Mann portraying himself as a "hero who helps others," despite the fact that what he did that was shown in the video, was false. At the beginning of the video, an Instagram post was shown, where Dhar Mann paid a kid's family's rent for an entire year. But neither the account nor the post existed, which means that Dhar Mann had lied.
In the same video, Dhar Mann was shown at the end as someone who voluntarily went to prom with a cancer patient. AugustTheDuck called him out on it, by calling it a "weird ego stroke, just to make him feel good about himself." Many also pointed out that the video had several pedophilic implications since Dhar Mann was an adult and the cancer patient was a high school student (which would make her around 14-18). In many of Dhar Mann's videos uploaded from fall to winter 2022, there are often scenes where characters praise Dhar Mann and his videos, or promote his videos/podcast. One of the things the characters frequently boast about is Dhar Mann's friendship with MrBeast.
====Dr. Todd Grande's analysis====
On January 5, 2022, Dr. Todd Grande (a YouTuber well known for attempting to analyze famous people and psychological factors that impact their behaviors) made a video discussing Dhar's life, channel, social media presence and impact on YouTube. It is titled "Counselor Researches Dhar Mann's Videos | He Instantly Regrets It".
While reiterating many criticisms other YouTubers have made towards Dhar, Todd also observed that Dhar's videos centered around issues that may be complex, but were portrayed as extremely simplistic. Todd criticized Dhar for doing this in his videos, which Todd believed were aimed towards a young audience, as it depicted an unrealistic view of the world. He also indicated that Dhar does not seem to properly understand the aspects of his characters' behavior, creating a supposedly realistic situation which actually has little to no connection to reality.
Another criticism Todd had towards Dhar was that he appeared to sugarcoat the importance of critical thinking and hard work in order for a person to change their behavior. He went on to state that Dhar appeared to manipulate his audience to make decisions based on their emotions. 
Finally, Todd questioned if the actors in the videos knew what they were supposed to say in the situations that they act in. As he had evaluated the videos to contain generally unrealistic situations, Todd theorized that the actors themselves are unable to get into the mindset the characters the play would normally have due to the poor writing.
===Response to criticism===
On June 9, 2021, Dhar uploaded a video titled "Dhar Mann ACTOR QUITS While On Set, What Happens Is Shocking" where he talks about the people who criticized him. In the video, cast member Ayden Mekus (who plays characters in a lot of Dhar Mann's videos) is confronted by two "haters," who mock Dhar Mann and call his acting "cringe." Because of this, Ayden feels disheartened and tells Dhar he wants to quit, only for Dhar to tell Ayden about the criticism he receives because of his videos and then telling Ayden to focus on the people who love him instead of listening to the haters. 
This video was heavily criticized as well, due to Dhar Mann's manipulative editing. He had also portrayed PewDiePie as a "hater," and deliberately did not show him calling out Dhar for hosting giveaways of iPhones/PS5s (which Felix considers "buying subscribers"). He also used a part of Rob Gavagan's video where he called Dhar a "cringe factory," but clipped out Rob calling out a video of Dhar's where he teaches a lesson of staying with a spouse even if they are abusive towards you. YouTuber and movie critic YourMovieSucksDOTorg called out Dhar for using Ayden as the scapegoat for the brunt of the comments, instead of focusing on the actual criticism people had of his videos.
The video was also criticized as when Ayden claimed that he was receiving hateful comments, the comments shown were obviously fake. Because of this, more reaction channels have satirized and reacted to the original video. On September 1, 2021, PewDiePie reacted to Dhar's video as well.
===Accusations of plagiarism===
====Copying movies and television programmes====
Dhar Mann sometimes takes inspiration from popular movies. He put a credit "Inspired by (movie name)" in the beginning of the video or in the description. But in some videos, he fails to give a proper credit. He tends to make videos based on teen/comedy movies. Some examples of this are:
*"MEAN GIRLS Leak Teen's DIARY IN SCHOOL, They Live To Regret It | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (not properly credited)
*"Kid DITCHES SCHOOL To THROW PARTY, He Lives To Regret It | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (credited in the video description)
*"Kid Is Left HOME ALONE On CHRISTMAS, What Happens Is Shocking | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (not properly credited)
*"EVIL MAID Mistreats The Owner, What Happens Is Shocking | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (credited at the beginning of the video)
*"Dad DRESSES AS NANNY To SEE HIS KIDS, What Happens Will Shock You | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (credited in the video description)
*"NERD SHAMES Girl's BAD GRAMMAR, What Happens Is Shocking | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (not properly credited)
*"Poor Man SAVES LIFE Of BILLIONAIRE, What Happens Is Shocking | Dhar Mann," inspired by . (not properly credited)
*"GENIUS KID Gets Sent To Military School (DIWALI SPECIAL) | Dhar Mann", inspired by Taare Zameen Par. (credited in the video description)
Many of Dhar Mann's critics, especially AugustTheDuck have also gone on to accuse Dhar Mann of borrowing plots from Disney and Nickolodeon sitcoms, insinuating that Dhar Mann has stopped trying to teach his audience moral lessons, and is now gearing his channel solely towards young children in the hopes of selling his studio to a large corporate network such as the aforementioned two. Viewers have also started to catch onto this, especially after Dhar Mann started to create more videos intended as episodes of a television series in 2023.
===Workplace abuse allegations===
On Glassdoor, many former employees have claimed that Dhar Mann mistreats his employees. On February 7, 2023, several former Dhar Mann actors including Colin A Borden, Riki Yvette Westmoreland, Chas Laughlin, Mair Mulroney, and Vinn Sander held protests against Dhar Mann outside his studio for several reasons.
In these claims, Dhar Mann was accused by former employees of silently firing cast members because they asked questions about who to be with and what to do, removing a mural dedicated to deceased cast member Carl Judie, underpaying them, and violating multiple laws while filming over the years. When the actors asked to hold a meeting with Dhar to discuss these aforementioned issues, he promised he would hold one, only to not show up at them and instead send a representative in his place. He had also rescheduled and cancelled the meeting many times before holding it.
Former cast member Colin A Borden livestreamed the protest on Instagram Live, and some cast members posted the protest on their own social media profiles as well. Colin also revealed on his Instagram page that none of the actors can pay rent and working at Dhar Mann Studios was unsustainable. Dylan J. Harris made a TikTok video stating that Dhar does not scale his actors' pay. He also stated that Dhar is aware that his actors live in near-poverty. 
Several signs in the protest mocked Dhar Mann's life lessons for not practicing what he preaches, such as "what happens in the dark always comes to light." Other signs mocked the titles of his videos such as "Multimillionaire ignores actors, instantly regrets it!!" In a Wikitubia interview, Colin stated: "Cast and crew are routinely let go for speaking up about issues involving hours, pay, and on-set conditions. An environment of fear has developed — 'You talk, you're out.'"
Many of the actors used the hashtag "#ProtestDharMann" under their TikToks discussing the protests. YouTubers such as Jarvis Johnson, AugustTheDuck, Def Noodles and Penguinz0 made videos on the subject.
=== Fake Giveaways ===
When Dhar got nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award in 2024, as soon the voting got started, Dhar Mann started a giveaway that involved his fans to rig the votes in order for him to win, 30 winners would receive a MacBook.
However it was later exposed on June 22, 2024 that Dhar wasn't actually giving the Macbooks he promised to his winnershttps://youtube.com/shorts/PbhW9p6EqMI?si=5sBbKHLwgKYBNkQ2
Instead he was cheaping out and giving his fans barely enough money for the Macbook.
While some winners have received their MacBooks after a week, some winners have also reported that they were ignored by Dhar.
Additionally Dhar stated that he would do these giveaways until July 13th, 2024 a day before the 2024 Kids Choice Awards, however he ended it a week earlier without warning on July 8th, 2024 as none of the new giveaway winners are getting announced or have their comment pinned for the previous video.
==Trivia==
*Dhar Mann calls his fans the "Dhar Mann Fam."
*He has descent from the country of India
* His daughter Ella has an Instagram account found here.
*He has a speech impediment and is slightly dyslexic.
*He has a criminal record for fraud due to embezzling money in 2008. He pleaded not guilty.
*He has referenced multiple celebrities and famous people in his videos. These include:
**American singer/songwriter Taylor Swift being mentioned and appearing in a poster in the video "Girls Get REVENGE On PRANKSTER."
**A concert of Canadian rapper Drake and American singer-songwriter Selena Gomez being mentioned in the topic of his videos.
** The incident of American actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Annual Oscar Academy Awards Ceremony for joking about Smith's wife's hair condition, in the video "Movie Star SLAPS HOST At AWARD SHOW, What Happens Is Shocking."
*He used to frequently take trips to Las Vegas, Nevada.
*He has a rating of 4.4/10 on IMDb. It was previously 4.5, but had dropped after the controversy regarding some of his cast members protesting against him.
==Quotes==
These lines are often used in the majority of his videos.
*"What happens in the dark always comes to light."
* "If you cheat, you'll never get ahead."
*"You should never judge someone before you get to know them."
*"You can be whatever you want in life as long as you work hard and believe in yourself."
==Channel milestones==
===Subscriber milestones===
====Dhar Mann====
====Dhar and Laura====
====Dhar Mann Studios Behind-The-Scenes====
====Dhar Mann Studios Top Videos====
====Dhar Mann Português====
====Dhar Mann بالعربية====
====Dhar Mann Español====
====Dhar Mann Studios Compilations====
====Dhar Mann हिन्दी====
====Dhar Mann Studios Extended Cuts====
===Video view milestones===
==Gallery==
DharMannDiamondPlayButton.jpg|Dhar Mann holding his Diamond Play Button
DharMann10BillonViews.jpg
DharMann20MillionLikes.jpg
DharMannFamily.jpg|Dhar and Laura holding their two daughters Ella Rose and Myla Sky.
DharMannStokesTwins.jpg|Dhar Mann with the Stokes Twins.
DharMannParis.jpg|Dhar and Laura in Paris.
Dhar Mann 2.jpg|Dhar and Laura celebrating her birthday in 2021.
Dhar Mann 3.jpg|Dhar and Stokes Twins cosplay as the characters of 'Squid Games.
Dhar Mann 4.jpg|Dhar and Laura cosplay as the characters of Toy Story crew.
==References==
Category:Educational YouTubers
Category:Film YouTubers
Category:Reaction YouTubers
Category:Vlogging YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2018
Category:One million subscribers
Category:Two million subscribers
Category:Three million subscribers
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Category:Fifteen million subscribers
Category:Twenty million subscribers
Category:One billion views
Category:Ten billion views