If you’ve watched fan reactions to Nintendo announcements, the odds are very high that you’ve come across Etika’s content. If, like me, you’ve been in the Sonic community for years, you knew him as Iceman. If you were a fan of his content, you were part of the “JoyCon Boyz”, as he loved to call the people that supported him. Many people worldwide considered him a great friend and a talented YouTube content creator that loved video games. Sadly, he is no longer with us.
The New York Police Department has announced that Desmond Amofah, also known as Etika, has passed away at the age of 29. His passing is the culmination of a series of mental breakdowns that began in October 2018. 5 days ago, Etika posted a YouTube video that was heavily implied to be suicidal. Since then, he had been missing. His belongings were found on the Manhattan Bridge a couple of days ago, and his body was found in New York’s East River last evening. Our hearts go out to his friends, family, and fans at this very difficult time.
We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased. https://t.co/sedwZZxglw
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 25, 2019
R.I.P Etika
https://twitter.com/i/status/1143608108243177472
Please dont take this as me being insensitive i mean this with the purest of hearts… But etika had a lot of moments that where red flags and his fanbase kept adding onto him laughing at him when he had breakdowns… The time he had the police outside in one of his recordings and almost everyone cheered him on to rebel against them instead of getting help. I feel like they kinda encouraged him sometimes…
My condolences to him his family and his girlfriend… They lost him way too early. Rest in peace..
When Etika returned to streaming, everyone spammed clown emojis and he just seemed to get less happier when they spammed that. What a jerk fanbase
No yeah, a lot of his fans were grade A jerks who refused to stop and think about their actions. I saw so many of them thinking him disappear a few days ago as “just another stunt” and brushed it off. All they saw was an entertainer and not a person. They didn’t care if he harmed himself as long as they got a good laugh.
Not everyone in his fanbase was like that, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m saying that, but there were far too many people that just wanted to see how far he would go “for the joke”. I don’t think I can associate with that kind of person. Mental health is no joke. I hope to God that people realize that now
Well, some people like some of his fans can be such dicks all of a sudden. But, i feel sorry about his passing.
@ ladyrosalina,
The internet ALWAYS condones suicide. Even I was told to kill myself a few times in the past (and for no damn reason). There’s a lot of sick people in this world. When you announce that you have mental problems, they just laugh, and then make it worse. It’s like certain people think it’s a game, and they like to push you as much as they can to see if you’re going to crack. Fortunately, I left YouTube all of those years ago and got away from the trolling freaks.
Rest in peace.
You’ll be missed.
Always sad to hear when younger people suffer from mental illness but in current society I cant say im ever surprised, I wish he had a more supporting or aware circle at least butost ppl don’t realize when someone is suffering until it’s too late. R.i.p and my condolences go to the family.
Yeah, I agree. Its like they want to put an end to there mental illness for good. I realize now that in many people can get in to huge depressions like Robin Williams hang himself at his home. RIP. to his friends and fans.
I feel the most bad for his ex. It impacted fans so much, think about how much it impacted her. She literally broke down crying recording a video
Whoa she did? is there a link to it? I want to see her reaction about his death.
where is it?
I’ve been a fan since he started his smash 4 videos. Every time I watched one of his streams and videos it felt like seeing a close friend. I would always have a good laugh. He was a one of a kind human being who was going through a lot for about a year with his breakdowns. Hes had his ups and downs. I thought he was feeling better and improving after watching his e3 reaction. Once i found out I was and still am heartbroken. It feels like losing a best friend. I agree with some of the fan base contributing to the damage of his mental health along with others things. R.i.p. Etika
I’m shock right now to hear about his passing. This is really sad for all of his fans on YouTube. I don’t watch his videos a lot but i never expected him to pass away so quickly.
Rest in peace Etika.
JOY-CON BOYZ FOR LIFE.
Umm who is he actually I feel really sorry for the family but I saw a couple of his smash videos years ago and they were obnoxious, never knew he was dealing with mental issues but the tbh the U.S. Doesn’t act on mental people until they commit an action that is very dangerous (suicide, terrorism, and etc) this happens alot here and its a shame no one tries to do anything about it rip (btw this isn’t a triggered comment, nor am I’m trying to triggered any etika fans)
I watch his reaction about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal one time. :/
Plus he been dealing with that for a while now.
I just know him as one of those reaction guys, nothing else comes to mind.
Same but its sad that people actually meme him to death
Etika loved Minecraft.
Yeah he does.
Wow! I’ve only watched a few of his videos in the past, and I didn’t really like him. I hated his over-exaggerated reactions to things (and unnecessary foul mouth, even when happy). But I would never wish something like this on anyone. This is the first time that a YouTuber I was actually aware of died. Man, I feel bad for his family. Nothing can prepare you for something like this. I myself have threatened suicide SO many times, but I can’t imagine actually going through with it.
I’ve been struggling to come to terms that this is real all day. I can’t take this.
I know how you feel.
I still think I’m just in a bad fever dream.
That whole think with Etika which feels surreal – Then today my cousin of 31 years of age suffered a stroke and I was pushed back into reality. She probably won’t survive this without being a nursing case. I really need some time off but I have a family to feed as well. Jeez, what a shitty week.
Sorry to hear that. Hope it gets better for you, man.
Hopefully this makes less people think that being “melodramatic” about being suicidal means they won’t really do it. I’ve seen plenty of people just brush statements off by saying “if they actually wanted to do it, they’ll just do it” and this one was no exception.
Things won’t change, unfortunately. We’ve been through this time and time again. Celebrities off themselves and everyone gets sad for a while, then go back to their old closed minded way of thinking.
I think it’s just their excuse of avoiding any form of responsibility if it doesn’t concern them. I won’t deny there’s people who threaten stuff like this solely for attention and manipulation, but there are people who are being serious like this yet people are too quick to brush them off even if they don’t have a history of this. Etika was sent to psychiatric hospitals multiple times and I think this was the first time he talked about suicide that wasn’t in a “what if” scenario, so I could tell he was being serious when watching that last video of his.
Yeah, there will be excuse against that but if people wasn’t going to kill themselves on what they said in the outside, then they will seriously do it in the inside. Its just that they refuse to get some help and or avoid paying bills and some responsibility things out there. Beside’s Etika was serious about killing himself in the inside. I can tell by looking at his eyes when i saw the last video of his.
RIP, You will always be loved and remembered Etika. :(
This year has just been filled with horrible stuff, first it was the whole ProJared controversy, then the Pokemon National Dex thing happened, and now this which is by far the worst.
I watched Etika from time to time and I felt he really was entertaining, seeing him react to stuff and his sheer excitement was what made him so awesome. I don’t even care if some of it was put on, I still loved his content regardless.
RIP Etika, you will be missed.
I wouldn’t compare the National Dex to those two.
+Lasse Gustavsson
You’re right actually, the national dex is trivial compared to those 2.
R.I.P. young man, I’m sorry to hear this even if I wasnt his fan.
I made a video about Etika. I was sad then. Still sad now about his death but I do try to keep my cool without crying in tears.
https://youtu.be/MT2yTSet_1Y
I really hope that people will learn from this. Just because “it’s the Internet” that’s no excuse to mistreat people. Seeing some of the videos like the one involving the police officer I really get angry at how some of his “fans” egged him on. People were laughing at him not with him and i think by the time he realized that the jokes and memes had already taken a heavy toll on him.