Trivia / Etika

• Creator Breakdown: One of the most tragic cases among Web Video creators since the rise of YouTube.
  • Etika (who was African-American) repeatedly used the N-word in his videos, whether they were live streams or pre-recorded. Eventually, in late October of 2018, Etika was banned from Twitch for using the N-word, and YouTube demonetized a video because of him saying it. In response, he repeatedly uploaded hardcore porn to his channel until it was terminated. Beforehand, Etika briefly posted a video saying that "we can't let them take this from us." He later posted cryptic messages to social media that generated concern among his fans, particularly a statement in which he alluded to dying, with the whole thing being an intense reaction that many fans wondered if Etika truly was suicidal. His real-life friends and one of his exes would end up confirming his well-being, stating that he got sent to a mental hospital afterward. He confirmed he was safe as well, clearing up his behavior as a violent overreaction (not that over-the-top reactions are out-of-character for him) and formally apologizing on his subreddit. He then relocated to another channel called EtikaFRFX^note FRFX = "for real facts".
  • One that progressed much worse followed starting in mid-April of 2019, with Etika acting in an increasingly erratic, megalomaniacal, and outright aggressive manner online, a byproduct of which was the similar termination of the EtikaFRFX channel under similar circumstances as EWNetwork. He posted several tweets about ending his life, one of them outlining how he planned to do it, which led to his arrest and hospitalization. After tweeting a large number of cryptic messages, many of them containing homophobic/ethnic slurs, he also demanded verified Twitter users to get him verified and blocked them instantly when they responded that they couldn't. Many of the people blocked included close friends of his. This all culminated with Etika uploading videos to Twitter of himself arguing with the NYPD outside his home, then finally livestreaming his own detainment over on Instagram. He was later released from the ward that day, though he continued to make overblown posts on social media, which included blocking anyone that tried to talk to him otherwise and showing little regard to posting images of his hospital release papers (which included his address and other personal information, which some people took advantage of). According to Fiona Nova, a content creator and friend of Etika's, he was bipolar/hypomanic.
  • Etika was last heard from on the night of June 19, 2019, and on June 20 at midnight, he posted a cryptic video onto YouTube^note The video was quickly taken down from there by the site, but it has been reuploaded onto Wikimedia Commons. It is being used in his Wikipedia article; at one point, the Other Wiki determined that it was not suitable for use there and removed it, instead replacing it with a screenshot taken from the video, but the video was later reinstated. in which he is seen walking the streets of New York speaking very suicidally, admitting to having mental health issues, apologizing for alienating people, and advising viewers to take him as a cautionary tale of rampant social media use. On top of that, the description for the video outright read like a suicide note, being written like Etika's final message to the world.
  • Etika was reported missing the day after the video's upload. Sometime prior to that, he posted a tweet asking when he should have his next mental breakdown, and gravitated toward the exact date he posted the video; while some believe that this was staged, others quickly pointed out that he appeared to be asking for a date on which to commit suicide, which in tandem with his language in the video prompted further concern about his well-being.
  • On June 24, a body in the East River was reported to the NYPD; the following morning, the NYPD confirmed that the body was Etika's, and that he was dead at the point of recovery. On June 26, the death was determined by the coroner's office to be suicide by drowning.
• Died During Production: Etika died after he was proposing a collaboration with Dashie Games. Dashie found out about the collaboration idea after Etika's death.
• Fan Community Nickname: The JOYCONBOYZ, named after the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers.
• Promoted Fanboy: FitMC, a Minecraft YouTuber known for his 2b2t anarchy server content, was a fan of Etika before Etika himself started watching Fit's videos and seeking out his help for his own 2b2t adventures.
• What Could Have Been: Etika proposed a collaboration between him and Dashie Games playing Super Mario Maker 2 together. Sadly, Dashie learned of this information after Etika had passed away.

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