If Netflix introduced a freemium mode where you can watch their content with injected ads for free, would that be evil as well?
People pay for Netflix because they want to watch the specific content, for which the platform has already invested money. It feels natural and fair to pay them. For the same reason, if they had a perhaps limited in content, but not obnoxiously annoying ad-supported options, people would be more likely to respect it.
On the other hand, YouTube wants you to pay to get rid of the annoyance they intentionally planted in their platform, while they have invested 0 of their money on content. Also, most creators don't seem to be paid enough from YouTube, and appear to make their living off of 3rd party sponsors, sales, referrals, etc. With this model, it is not surprising that people aren't very keen in having a YouTube subscription.