The Hype House is a Los Angeles-based Generation Z content creator collective that includes twenty of Tik Tok's rising and established stars.

Tension between two of the collective's most recognizable faces, Daisy Keech and Thomas Petrou, has escalated into a legal dispute involving multiple applications to trademark the collective's name.

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A legal dispute appears to be in progress at The Hype House, the Los Angeles content creator collective built by TikTok's biggest Gen Z stars.

The controversy centers on simmering tension between Daisy Keech, a 20-year-old influencer who, historically, has been cited as one of the group's first members, and Thomas Petrou, a 21-year-old vlogger whose career took off through frequent collaborations with Jake Paul's Team 10. Petrou is widely credited with co-founding the Hype House in December with the help of 17-year-old resident e-boy Chase Hudson.

But, in recent months, Keech — who no longer lives in the house — has been vying for a title change and a more collaborative decision-making process in the group. Earlier this year, a new line appeared on her Instagram bio, "co founder of @thehypehousela," and numerous publications including Insider received requests from her attorney asking that Keech be credited as a co-founder in previously published articles. Not long after, Keech filed the first of several applications to trademark "The Hype House."

"I'm not being portrayed as who I really am — the business mind that I do have and everything that I brought to the Hype House and did for the Hype House," Keech told Insider. "So I just got a little bit frustrated, you know? And I wanted to come and share my story."

"Especially because I did start off being an Instagram model and you know, they don't have like the best rep of being smart or business-minded," Keech continued. "They're just seen as these like, pretty girls taking photos and that's it, you know? So I thought it was kind of important to share that you can do both."

Keech and Petrou originally met during hang-outs at the Team 10 house. When Petrou started editing YouTube videos and taking photos for Keech, the two became "close friends."

"Thomas always had this dream of having a team of his own, kind of like Team 10, but a little bit different," Keech recalled. "And he was asking for help on how he should do it, and me and him just kind of started from there. And then we met chase. Well, I guess Thomas met Chase [Hudson], and then brought all of us together."

At the time, Hudson was renting an Airbnb, and the space quickly became a makeshift hub of content creator activity. Eventually, the friends decided to move in together.

Practically overnight, the Hype House catapulted its members — all of whom had sizable followings to begin with — into the highest echelons of internet stardom. Along with that momentum, however, came certain growing pains.

"For the first couple of interviews, I just kinda kept my mouth shut and let them do them," Keech admitted. "And you know, I'm also young. And going into those interviews, it's kind of nerve-wracking when there's a whole production team and there's Thomas and Chase kind of taking charge with Chase's manager or whatever."

"And then I'm there all by myself...like, I didn't really have anyone there to tell me what to do, to tell me that I should be speaking up, telling me that this isn't right."

But the group's meteoric rise to fame left little time for its twenty members — whose ages range from 15 to 22 — to worry about the logistical aspects of running a business. Securing intellectual property rights, Keech explained, was one of many things the members were discussing internally, but not acting on. That is, until Keech sought the help of a lawyer and took the first step toward trademarking the name on January 7, 2020 — almost three weeks after Hype House made its splashy internet debut.

A day later, a licensing agency called Brand Central LLC filed multiple applications of its own, although the company declined to comment on their intended use for the name. It is unclear whether the company filed the applications autonomously or on behalf of a client.

A clear picture of what transpired between January and the end of February is still taking shape. But, per Keech's lawyer Chris Young, frustrations between Keech and Petrou came to a head when Petrou used the trademark in a recent Instagram story, which also made reference to Hype House merchandise. Young sent Petrou a cease and desist letter asking him to obtain Keech's consent before using the trademark, and from there, the situation began to escalate — legally and interpersonally.

By the end of February, a new application to trademark "The Hype House" surfaced. Filed on behalf of "The Hype House LLC," the primary points of contact for the application are attorney Kenneth A. Feinswog and Cole Hudson, Chase's father.

Representatives for Hudson and Petrou declined to comment on the matter. Sources familiar with the situation say that the pair's team believes they are the sole founders of The Hype House.