Shane Madej | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shane Alexander Madej May 16, 1986 Schaumburg, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | Columbia College Chicago |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2014–present |
| Known for |
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| Spouse | Sara Rubin (m. 2023) |
Shane Alexander Madej (born May 16, 1986) is an American Internet personality, paranormal investigator, and co-founder of digital entertainment company, Watcher Entertainment. Madej rose to prominence for co-starring in the YouTube true crime and supernatural series BuzzFeed Unsolved .
Madej was born on May 16, 1986, in Schaumburg, Illinois to Mark and Sherry Madej. He has one brother, Scott. [1]
He went to Northern Illinois University for two years before attending Columbia College Chicago for editing. [2] [3] Following his graduation, Madej worked several jobs including producing corporate videos, working in public-access television and at Starbucks. [4]
Madej joined BuzzFeed as an intern before later joining the unscripted team. [4] In December 2016, Madej took over as the co-host in BuzzFeed Unsolved with Ryan Bergara. He made his first appearance in the episode "The Secret Society Of The Illuminati". The show was split into two separate series, Unsolved: True Crime and Unsolved: Supernatural. The former featured Bergara presenting unsolved true crime cases to Madej and presenting possible theories, [5] [6] while Supernatural consisted of the pair investigating reportedly haunted locations and attempting to elicit responses for paranormal proof. The show became one of Buzzfeed's most successful series, generating over a billion video views and 16.6 billion minutes of total watch time. [7]
Madej was also the creator and host of the successful educational BuzzFeed show, Ruining History. [8] This show focused on Madej telling unbelievable stories of history to a panel of other BuzzFeed employees –with Bergara and Sara Rubin being consistent panelists.
Madej left BuzzFeed as a full-time employee in 2019. In 2020, he and Bergara signed a contract to finish the final seasons of Unsolved, which ended in 2021. [9]
In 2019, Madej co-founded a digital production company, Watcher Entertainment, with fellow ex-Buzzfeed employees, Bergara and Steven Lim. [8] The trio served as co-CEOs until 2023, when both Madej and Bergara stepped down to focus on the creation of content. [10]
The channel hosts are a variety of shows starring Madej, Bergara, and Lim, spanning cooking, mystery, gaming, and horror. [8] Included is Unsolved's successors – Mystery Files and Ghost Files – which have both proved successful. [11]
Madej is the creator of the web series, Puppet History, a spiritual successor to his Buzzfeed show Ruining History. [9] [12] The series consists of Madej starring as The Professor, a puppet, quizzing Bergara and a special guest on peculiar historical events and people. [13] Madej also portrays a large variety of different characters on the show, including at least one new puppet every episode, an evil genie, and a fictionalized version of himself. [14] The show received an Honoree Award at the 2022 Webby Awards for a Science & Education Channel [15] and remains one of Watcher's most popular shows.
In 2023, Madej and Bergara went on a national tour to premiere the second season of Ghost Files. [16] [17] In April 2025, Madej appeared as himself on the ABC show The Rookie . He and Bergara portrayed themselves in the midst of a paranormal investigation for an episode of Ghost Files. [18]
In September 2023, Madej married his longtime girlfriend, Sara Rubin. [19]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Beautiful Day | Male Hiker | Short Film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | S.W.A.T. | Ira | Episode: "Gunpowder Treason" |
| 2025 | The Rookie | Himself | Episode: "A Deadly Secret" |