Stein was born to Kelly Stein and Rhett Stein, a bail bondsman.[1] Stein grew up in Dallas, Texas. His father is half-Jewish.[7] Alex Stein told the Jewish Journal that he did not get a bar mitzvah "or any of the cool Jewish stuff as a kid".[3] Stein described being "obsessed with spy stuff" as a child, which he said led to his enjoyment of conspiracy theories.[3]
Stein moved to Los Angeles after graduating college to pursue a comedy career. He later moved back to Dallas and worked at selling used cars with his father.[1]
Career
Stein began his career in 2011 by producing and participating in food challenge videos on YouTube.[9][third-party source needed] In 2012, Stein was a contestant in the reality TV show The Glass House, in which he described himself as having "no shame", asked viewers, "Should I turn into the most epic villain in the history of reality TV?". He was the first to be voted off by the viewers.[1][8] He appeared on Season 4 of Worst Cooks in America on Bobby Flay's team in 2013.[10]
Stein became known for disrupting local government meetings, sometimes virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Stein said he began the disruptions after being frustrated by Dallas government unresponsiveness.[3] His disruption of various other local government meetings including New York City and Las Vegas has included rapping about vaccines and other topics.[1][3][11] He rapped about the Russo-Ukrainian War at a city council meeting in Plano, Texas.[12]D Magazine described Stein's city council pranks as "mostly harmless, if at times in poor taste" and said that publicity from the videos had gained Stein access to "larger right-wing platforms where he can spread misinformation, transphobia, and conspiracy theories".[1]
In October 2022, an event featuring Stein and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes that had been scheduled by the group Uncensored America at Penn State University was cancelled by the university at the last minute after protests and confrontations; Stein taunted protesters and was spit on by one.[15][16][17] In December 2022, Stein and a half-dressed man he called his "wife's boyfriend" broke into the lobby of Barstool Sports and were forcefully removed by security.[18]
Stein has said that he believes in God but not organized religion.[3] He often refers to himself as "PrimeTime#99".[27]
Stein's mother, Kelly Stein, died of COVID-19 in October 2021. Stein's father said Stein's experience of watching his mother get extubated "traumatized him" and "totally broke him down". Stein said the hospital's use of the antiviral drug remdesivir had caused his mother's death.[1]