On Saturday, as questions swirled about whether Mayor Francis Suarez would once again attend exclusive Miami Race Week shindigs (and if so, on whose dime), the mayor gifted the group of YouTube pranksters honorary keys to the city.
The mayor and Nelk Boys head honcho Kyle Forgeard shared a handful of Instagram photos and videos posing at city hall while the boys flaunted their newly obtained oversize silver keys.
"Holy!! Got surprised with a key to the city from Mayor @francisssuarez," Forgeard wrote in an Instagram post alongside several fire and astonished-face emojis.
Since 2010, the Canadian and American friends have risen to fame on YouTube, garnering nearly 8 million subscribers and more than 1.4 billion views. NELK is an acronym for the first names of the group's original members: Nick, Elliot, Lucas, and Kyle, only one of whom (Kyle) is currently a full-time member of the collective.
The Nelk Boys are perhaps best known for trademarking the slang term "FULL SEND" (which Forgeard defines as "any activity you do, give it your absolute best") and pulling elaborate pranks, which have often led to trouble with the law. Group members have been arrested repeatedly over the years on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace; last year they were kicked off a Caribbean cruise for heckling the ship's captain and entertainers at an onboard comedy show.
“Every video, we’re swearing, we’re doing some stuff that could be questionable or illegal, we’re making sexual references or drug references,” Forgeard told the New York Times in 2021.
In 2020, the Nelk Boys' YouTube channel was demonetized after the group urged fans to gather and party during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2021, the group quickly pivoted to a new way of raking in dollars, launching a hard seltzer brand called Happy Dad. They reportedly rake in tens of millions of dollars per year through the seltzer and a line of branded merchandise.
The group launched a podcast in September 2021 called "FULL SEND," which has since featured a number of guests including the likes of Andrew Tate, OJ Simpson, Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump, whose episode was quickly taken down by YouTube for misinformation.
Suarez's decision to award the YouTubers with keys to the city was met with mixed reactions.
"Love this," Miami entrepreneur Dave Grutman replied to Suarez's Instagram video of the mayor with the Nelk Boys.
"What is the merit of these people to get the key to the city?" one person asked. A third commented, "Such a shitty look on a political figure LMAO."
Suarez's office didn't immediately respond to New Times' request for comment.
Miami has a long history of giving entertainers keys to the city.
In 2006, Shakira was awarded a key to the city after playing five shows at the former American Airlines Arena during one tour. In 2013, former Mayor Matti Bower gave pop singer Adam Lambert a key to the city for "being brave enough to be openly gay on American Idol." In 2020, Suarez presented keys to actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and in 2021, he gave a key to UFC star Conor McGregor.
