[3] According to Gothamist's John Del Signore, "The site's popularity has created a sort of voyeuristic feedback loop, in which disassociated bystanders immediately videotape shocking incidents and act as if they're already watching a video on the Internet".

"[11] By 2012 companies and artists were using the platform as an advertising tool, including P. Diddy with a promotional video of Cîroc vodka having premiered on WorldStar.

[11] On January 23, 2017, founder and CEO Lee "Q" O'Denat died of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at the age of 43, with morbid obesity as a contributing factor.

[17] Bill O'Reilly attacked WorldStarHipHop and its president after watching a video of a kid talking about his plans to kill then-president George W. Bush.

O'Reilly said, "I believe the Secret Service should arrest the parents of this kid and the purveyor of the website (Q)", calling it a "crime" that this was allowed up after the video was banned on other sites.

[20] David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun said in 2012 that "Now in its sixth year, WorldStar is seen by many critics as yet another example of the coarsening of U.S. culture and life—another low on a downward continuum that extends from the Jerry Springer-style trash-talk shows of the 1980s and 1990s through to the TMZ.com and RadarOnline websites of today.

"[3] Nsenga Burton, the editor at large of The Root and an associate professor at Goucher College, described the site as "basically shock video.

"[3] In 2013, rapper Childish Gambino released a song called "Worldstar" about its popularity as a website and the sensationalism that it encourages, particularly in how many violent acts that are filmed and showcased on the site go viral.