# Hot Ones

> The wing-interview show's sauces made $7 million in a year, its producer reported.

- Owner: First We Feast
- Kind: Series
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2015-03-12
- Observed peak date: 2019-01-30
- Date basis: Observed peak within the documented measurement window; not an all-time maximum.
- Spread Score: 40 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Challenge, Underdog, Platform jump, Press loop, Scarcity drop

## Summary

Hot Ones began on YouTube with Tony Yayo, and Key & Peele brought a Reddit breakthrough. Reaction clips spread on X; sauces, retail tie-ins and television followed. Its producer First We Feast sold for $82.5 million.

## Timeline

- 2015-03-12 — First We Feast / Sean Evans (YouTube) — First We Feast released its first Hot Ones interview, with rapper Tony Yayo.
- Week of Apr 28, 2016 — Reddit readers (Reddit) — Key & Peele's episode reached Reddit's front page and passed a million YouTube views within three days.
- 2016-10-20 — Los Angeles Times (Press) — The Los Angeles Times profiled Evans and the celebrity wing-interview format.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/hot-ones

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Hot Ones.” Case HIS-01295. Spread Score v1.2: 40/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01295