Rudy Mancuso: His Life, Career, and Plagiarism Controversy

Rudy Mancuso, the actor best known for his comedic videos on YouTube, is one of the most popular Internet personalities nowadays, but he was once involved in controversy.

Mancuso, whose mother is Brazilian and father is Italian-American, was born in the US but lived in Rio de Janeiro for a while, which is why he appears speaking Portuguese fluently in some of his clips.

Rudy Mancuso and Maia Mitchell have been officially dating since 2015.

HIS INITIAL VINE SUCCESS

He initially became famous thanks to Vine, the now-extinct app in which people used to upload videos with a maximum length of six seconds. In Mancuso’s case, he focused on using his Brazilian and Italian background to mock stereotypes.

Music has always been a significant aspect in his comedy, and as he revealed in a 2017 interview, it was his first love. Mancuso, 27, pointed out that he taught himself piano, drums, and the guitar, and has been using his skills ever since.

“Over the years, I’ve exposed myself to as many diverse sounds as possible, and ultimately came up with the idea of creating a one-man band act,” said Mancuso.

He added that Charlie Chaplin served as an inspiration for him as he has always been obsessed with “the idea of a person doing various things at once.”

RUDY MANCUSO’S GIRLFRIEND

Even though the Internet personality became famous thanks to social media, he prefers to keep some of his private matters out of the spotlight. However, he is always eager to share photos next to his 25-year-old girlfriend Maia Mitchell, the Australian actress known for “The Fosters” and “Good Trouble.”

Rudy Mancuso and Maia Mitchell have been officially dating since 2015.

Fortunately for their followers, they never hesitate to show support to one another as they have uploaded several musical and comedic videos together for YouTube and Instagram.

Apart from that, Mancuso and Mitchell have recorded songs together, including “Sirens” and “Magic.” Unfortunately, the former threatened to end Mancuso’s music career.

MAIA MITCHELL AND RUDY MANCUSO’S MUSIC CONTROVERSY

In December 2017, soon after they released “Sirens,” Billboard referred to its chorus as “an interpolation of Eisley’s ‘Ambulance.’” An Interpolation refers to the use of a melody (or portions of one) from a previously recorded song but, instead of sampling it, re-recording it.

The couple, however, didn’t credit Eisley when they did so, which is why they were accused of plagiarism. Even though Mancuso later added a disclaimer on the video giving the Texan rock band his credit, YouTube took down “Sirens.”

After a while, Sherri DuPree, one of the members of the group, said that they had given Mancuso and Mitchell permission to use their song, but the damage was already done.

While the whole experience was probably very unpleasant for the couple, and some people believed that it could deteriorate their careers, their reputations remained intact and, nowadays, they are still active in the entertainment industry.

THE COUPLE’S PRESENT

At the moment, Mancuso has released five music videos and has been in two films. He is currently working in the science-fiction movie “Rim of the World,” which is expected to be released later this year.

In Mitchell’s case, she is portraying Callie Adams Foster, one of the main characters of the drama TV series “Good Trouble.”

As for their relationship, even though rumors had it that they broke up in 2016 because Mitchell allegedly deleted all photos showing the couple together, neither of them confirmed such allegations.

Nowadays, they continue to be one of the most beloved couples in social media.