Truth Behind the Fame: Jake and Logan Paul’s MOM Drops the Wild Story About Her Influencer Sons, Their ‘Psycho’ Dad and How Lawsuits Nearly Left Them Bankrupt

In a candid and explosive new memoir, Pam Stepnick, the mother of YouTube sensations turned professional athletes Jake and Logan Paul, finally tells the full story behind the boys’ meteoric rise — and the intense family turmoil that shaped them long before their first viral video.

Titled F* the Pauls: Written by Their Mother**, Stepnick’s book peels back the glossy veneer of internet fame to reveal a childhood marked by conflict, controversy and nearly crippling legal battles that threatened to undo everything her family worked to build.

Stepnick, a former nurse from Ohio, watched her two sons rocket from humble beginnings on the now-defunct social app Vine to global influence with hundreds of millions of followers. Yet behind the public success, she says, lay deep struggles — especially with her ex-husband and the boys’ father, Greg Paul. According to Stepnick, it was his volatile behavior and their tumultuous marriage that set the stage for years of family tension.

In the book, Stepnick recounts stories from early family life that paint a picture of a home where discipline often crossed into aggression. She describes moments when Greg’s reaction to everyday mischief turned explosive, opening old wounds and leaving emotional scars on both her and her sons — experiences that Jake and Logan themselves have alluded to in past interviews and in the Netflix documentary Untold: Jake Paul — The Problem Child.

“It was clear early on that this wasn’t the home we envisioned,” Stepnick writes, according to social media summaries of the book’s release. “Divorce wasn’t just about ending a marriage; it was about protecting our kids.”

But the family’s challenges didn’t end with the divorce. The memoir also delves into how lawsuits and public battles nearly pushed the Pauls toward financial ruin. As Jake and Logan built their brands, they faced a series of legal challenges that chipped away at their reputation and finances — from defamation claims to high-stakes disputes with former partners and critics. Stepnick explains how some of these courtroom dramas grew so intense that they risked derailing the entire family enterprise.

Central to her narrative is the idea that fame — especially the kind born from the chaotic world of early social media stardom — came at a cost. Stepnick opens up about the pressure she felt to “keep everything together,” juggling her sons’ careers while confronting personal betrayals and the very real threat of losing everything they had built.

Despite the hardships, Stepnick frames her memoir as both a personal reckoning and a cautionary tale for other parents navigating the digital age. She underscores that behind every viral post and megabucks deal, there’s a family trying to stay grounded while facing intense public scrutiny.

As one of the first “moms of influencers,” Pam Stepnick’s unfiltered account gives fans and critics alike a rare glimpse into the real story behind two of the internet’s most controversial and influential figures, proving that the truth behind fame is often more complicated — and much wilder — than it seems.