Update 11:51am CT, Nov. 7: Jake Paul confirmed in a tweet on Wednesday that he and Erika Costell have ended their relationship, writing that he could “barely hold it together.”
“After many discussions and some serious soul searching, it became apparent to us weeks ago that we could no longer be boyfriend and girlfriend. While it was a truly heartbreaking decision, it is the healthiest thing for both of us.”
Here’s the entire tweet.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 7, 2018
Update 4:46pm ET, Nov. 9: Instagram model Nikki Banner provided the following statement to the Daily Dot:
“I went with Jake Paul camping with friends. This has been blown way out of proportion. I was insensitive, and hurtful and I apologize for my participation in this. Erika is a terrific girl and didn’t deserve it. Prior to going on this trip, Jake told me he was single. I would not have gone knowing he had a girlfriend or that he was lying to her about me going as a friend. I was lied to as well and couldn’t leave the situation as it was 4 hours away from LA near the border of Mexico.”
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The romantic relationship between YouTube stars Jake Paul and Erika Costell that started as fake but then supposedly became real has now reportedly ended. The couple known as Jerika has broken up, according to the Drama Alert YouTube channel.
But it’s also unclear if those rumors are true, and there are social media signs that perhaps they’re still together after all.
According to Keemstar on his Drama Alert channel, an Instagram model named Nikki Banner had a private conversation with an unknown person in which she said Paul and Costell had broken up and that Banner had gotten together with Paul. Banner also told Keemstar that Costell is “a really nice girl who got hurt in a way I have in the past. Not because of me. Prior to me … [Paul] lied to both of us.”
Keemstar said he talked to Costell, and she provided him with this statement: “Damn, I’ve been through so much the past month with this … and already feel like a fool. I don’t care about what the internet thinks about me[.] I just wanna move on and get through this shit privately[.] You can say whatever you want.”
On Twitter, though, there are some contradicting sentiments.
The day Costell released a new music video called “Karma” earlier this month, Paul tweeted his compliments.
I love this ☺️🔥 https://t.co/9LqJo4u96u
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 2, 2018
Costell responded this way.
couldn’t do it without youuuuu🦖
— Erika Costell (@erikacostell) November 3, 2018
He later tweeted this.
🙌🏼PEOPLE SO QUICK TO ASSUME
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 3, 2018
🖤🖤
The two were recently featured on the Shane Dawson documentary series that explored the mind of Paul. In an interview with Dawson, Costell said this about their relationship: “I don’t think it was ever fake. But we ‘got married’ the first day I joined YouTube. So, obviously, people are going to have that.”
Costell also criticized the idea of Paul’s father, Greg Paul, living in the same house as the rest of Team 10. She told Dawson, “I know Greg means very well and he does help with a lot. But him living here has put a lot of stress on Jake. I know that for a fact. There’s a certain energy. The energy shifts when he walks in the room. It’s not a good situation. I think everybody in the house knows that. It’s not good to have him living here.”
Paul hasn’t tweeted anything recently about a potential breakup, but in an off-the-record conversation with Costell, Keemstar said it sounds like she “got burned” by Paul.