Queer Content Creator Art Bezrukavenko Is Living his American Dream

EDGE: Where did you go from there?

Artyom: I started to think about how to monetize because no one pays much for views. Someone told me about Patreon, this subscription platform for creators. I was posting thirst traps. It helped me to quit my job and focus on videos. I started doing everything at once because I knew you cannot do just one platform. You need to put your eggs in different baskets. It started to get bigger and then I got my Christmas miracle.

EDGE: You had a Christmas miracle?

Artyom: It was actually on Christmas. I love Christmas. I thought it was so cool. But I'm not from the religious part of Ukraine. I had no idea Christmas was about God. I thought it was just a party, like New Year's Eve. I watched all those Christmas movies and I thought, "I want a Christmas miracle." I posted this video with the gay flag on Christmas at 11 a.m. and two or three hours later, after brunch, I had half a million views. It was my Christmas miracle.

EDGE: Is that when it blew up?

Artyom: Yeah, it blew up from there. But I knew it's not gonna work with the gay flag for 10 years. I made about 300 videos. I walked with the gay flag in front of Chick-fil-A. I just wanted to troll them. It got super viral. It got 2 million views and 50,000 comments in one day. They all reported my Instagram. I got banned and suspended, but I got it back. That's when I realized religious people exist. I never thought they existed. I thought everyone is so nice in America. They were saying "You'll burn in hell. We're going to find you." I was getting a little bored in Austin, so I moved to New York.

EDGE: Obviously you had better luck this time.

Artyom: I found an apartment and found a boyfriend within two months. I kept dating the same boyfriend, Johnny, and it's been three years now. I kind of experimented with different content and I saw this niche that no one was doing interviews with gay people. I started doing it and I asked people are you gay? People thought it was funny but there was actually a lot of thought about this question. It's a hook to let algorithms know who to push it to. It has done really well. But they started to get old because there's only so much you can ask people. It's also hard to get people's attention.

EDGE: This might a good place to turn the tables. I've watched tons of those interviews. Will you answer some of your most-asked questions?

Artyom: Sure.

EDGE: Smooth or hairy?

Artyom: I think hairy.

EDGE: Where are the hottest guys from?

Artyom: The hottest guys are from Connecticut or Massachusetts.

EDGE: Country guys or city guys?

Artyom: For sex, country, for life, New York City.

EDGE: Are you a top, verse or bottom?

Artyom: Verse.

EDGE: How long do you think a good guy should last?

Artyom: Seven minutes.

EDGE: You've mentioned several times that your neighbors do it every day. Are they still at it?

Artyom: Just today, like an hour ago, they were doing it.

EDGE: How often do you do it?

Artyom: My ideal is a couple of times per week, no more.

EDGE: What's your favorite part of a man's body?

Artyom: Thighs.

EDGE: Do you prefer cut or uncut?

Artyom: Cut. I even cut myself when I was 20. I was uncut.

EDGE: What do you think the sexiest thing a man can do is?

Artyom: Sexiest... have a job.

EDGE: What does demure mean?

Artyom: Modest, shy.

EDGE: What do you rate yourself on a scale of one to 10?

Artyom: Seven-and-a-half.

EDGE: You're much higher than that, in my opinion.

Artyom: Thank you.

EDGE: Do people recognize you on the street when you're not doing interviews?

Artyom: Yeah, they do, but it depends on the season. If I'm constantly going viral with something it would be much more. But if I have a month or two when I'm slower, it would be less. It also depends on the area. If I'm in a straight club, no one probably knows me. If I'm in a gay club, at least a couple people will come up. But after I did my Slavic Trophy Husband video for the first time, it went viral on Instagram with all the girls. I don't have a girl audience. My audience is 95% men. But these specific videos went viral to all the girls. I was actually in Starbucks near my apartment, and a girl like 25 came to me and said, "Oh my god, I love your videos." I said, "You're the first girl ever." If I want to broaden my audience, now I know how to do it.

EDGE: How do you stay relevant and sustain it?

Artyom: Well, that's the thing. I have to come up with something new besides interviews. For a year I had a very steady viewership of 500,000 to a million. I was very fresh, new. It jumps up and down. It's very hard. What am I doing next? How long I can do this? But I go through those periods and I always come up with something new. I try to find new people who are creative and get inspiration from them. And the motivation of paying your rent helps a lot.

EDGE: What was the lowest point in your life?

Artyom: When my grandparents died and I wasn't able to go to their funeral. It was 2021 and I was still waiting for my documentation. They both died the same day, within 16 hours. I tried to get emergency travel document. I couldn't. It was hard because I was here and my mom was basically burying two great people at the same time. I did not see them. I talked to them every day on Skype so I was pretty close to them. But I knew they would not want me to just leave, because I would not be able to come back. I didn't see my mom for about five years because I was here waiting for the process. Now I'm able to go back and forth, but I will never see them again. That's the biggest price for the American dream. But I think they're looking at me now and I think they're pretty happy.

EDGE: You think the American dream is coming true for you?

Artyom: I think it's already come true, multiple times. What I wanted to achieve has already come true. I always wanted to be a YouTuber. I wanted to have a boyfriend. What I want now is to sustain it and make it better.

For more information about Artyom Visit his website, his Instagram; his TikTok; or his Facebook page.