Etika

Early life Desmond Daniel Amofah was born on May 12, 1990, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, to Owuraku Amofah, a Ghanaian politician and lawyer from Kibi, and Sabrina Amofah. His mother is of Haitian descent and his father was based in Ghana in the 1990s as a member of the Parliament of Ghana from 1992 to 1996. After allegedly assaulting the Ghanaian president Jerry Rawlings by slamming a door on his fingers, he moved to the United States to become a Magistrate Judge before returning to Ghana in 2013. Amofah rarely mentioned his relationship with his father. He had an older brother, Randy Amofah, who died in 2010 from an asthma attack after a sandstorm in Accra, Ghana. He also had a half-brother, Cardinal Valery, who ventured into online video creation following his death. Cardinal has faced controversy from Amofah's fanbase, including being accused of exploiting Amofah's death for personal monetary gain. Prior to his career as a gaming YouTuber, Amofah was active in modeling and rapping, having uploaded rap videos from 2007 to 2009 under the name "Iceman". He also released an independently-produced mixtape titled Written in Ice in 2007. Amofah also dealt with homelessness, temporarily living in a shelter after quitting his job at Uniqlo to become a full-time YouTuber. He was inspired to grow a hi-top fade from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which featured the hairstyle in the game.

YouTube career

Origins and popularity (2012–2018) Having previously used the YouTube account "TR1Iceman", Amofah created a new YouTube account under the username "EWNetwork" (Etika World Network) in 2012 to broadcast his gaming and reaction streams. Prior to the termination of the channel in 2018, he amassed more than 800,000 subscribers, reaching 100,000 subscribers in 2015. Within months of creating a replacement YouTube channel, "EtikaFRFX", he had gained 300,000 subscribers, In total, Amofah accumulated over one million subscribers and 146 million views across his multiple YouTube channels. Initially centered around gaming news, his video output evolved to a focus on Let's Play videos of Nintendo games alongside reaction videos of gaming announcements, such as Nintendo Direct presentations. The video became Amofah's most viewed video on EWNetwork and was retweeted by the creator of the game, Masahiro Sakurai. Amofah's channel continued to grow in popularity as he made more videos centered around his reactions to gaming news and YouTube drama; according to him, he was earning over $300,000 a year through his internet career.

Amofah dubbed his fans the "JOYCONBOYZ", after the Nintendo Switch controllers known as the Joy-Con. Amofah would frequently end his videos with his signature catchphrase "Take care of yourselves, and of course, as usual, please have yourself a damn good one". In Japan, Amofah was commonly referred to as "Guile-kun" in reference to his hairstyle, which resembled the character Guile from the fighting game Street Fighter. Though he primarily focused on Nintendo-related content, Amofah uploaded playthroughs of video games from multiple publishers, such as Call of Duty, Undertale, and Doki Doki Literature Club!, and was also a fan of games such as Final Fantasy VII and Minecraft. Amofah enjoyed anime and Japanese culture, frequently streaming himself watching series such as Attack on Titan while providing commentary. Following the termination, Amofah posted cryptic messages to social media, including the statement "it's my turn to die", coupled with a screenshot of his terminated account. He later apologized on his subreddit r/EtikaRedditNetwork. Soon after the incident, Amofah was banned from Twitch for using the word faggot during a stream; he had read a conversation between him and a streamer which contained the word.

After the termination of his first YouTube account, Amofah created a new channel in October 2018 called "EtikaFRFX", which he explained would comprise more sincere content where "he would be more himself". Although Amofah's new channel initially grew in popularity, the channel was terminated in April 2019 after Amofah again posted pornographic material. This tweet led to his detainment and hospitalization. confirmed that she was with him when he was taken to the hospital. he blocked close friends and other YouTubers. Before his detainment, Amofah alternated between recording his reaction to the officers and the street outside which was surrounded by police vehicles, while refusing to allow officers to enter his apartment. Throughout the stream, he expressed his fear over the situation. Amofah also shouted phrases and quotes from his apartment window, including "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".

A day after the stream, Amofah was interviewed by the host of Internet news show DramaAlert, Daniel "Keemstar" Keem. In the interview, Amofah made various statements primarily referencing death and his views on the world, at one point mentioning that he was the "antichrist" and wanted to "purge all life". Recorded on video, the altercation showed Amofah approaching the officer and raising his middle fingers before pushing the officer, who retaliated by attempting to hit Amofah. Among his fanbase, rumors circulated that Amofah's various controversies formed part of an alternate reality game, In the video, Amofah walks through the streets of New York City talking about his mental health and suicidal thoughts along with the negative aspects of social media. He apologizes for pushing people away from him while also advising caution towards the overuse of social media. YouTube soon removed the video for violating its Community Guidelines, although the video was later reposted to other outlets. while The Verge, Kotaku and Digital Trends claim his belongings were found on June 22.

On the evening of June 24, a body was observed near Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport, approximately half a mile (0.8 km) down the East River from where Amofah's belongings were recovered, and reported to the NYPD. The following day, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the cause of death was suicide by drowning. He was 29 years old. Felix Kjellberg, known as PewDiePie, was one of the first YouTubers to post a tribute to Amofah, stating in a tweet, "Hard to grasp that he's actually gone, left us way too soon. You will continue to live on in our hearts. Rest in peace Etika". Beauty YouTuber James Charles expressed on Twitter: "My heart is so so heavy hearing this news. I hope that the community FINALLY realizes that creators are human beings with real, valid feelings". The official "YouTube Creators" Twitter account posted a tribute to Amofah: "We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community". Rapper Lil Nas X also shared his condolences, stating that he "didn't know Amofah very well" but did know that he "inspired many and made a lot of people very happy". and SonicFox.

The circumstances surrounding Amofah's death prompted discussions on social media about dealing with mental health as a content creator. Analyzing his final video, Margi Murphy of The Daily Telegraph viewed Amofah's demeanor as an example of a claim from psychiatrist Richard Graham about the shifting perceptions between the real and online world due to the prevalence of livestreaming. Keem later posted screenshots of a series of texts allegedly sent to him by Amofah's mother Sabrina, which stated that "Etika loved Keemstar's show" and had only wanted to make a memorable appearance on it; Cardona also confirmed the veracity of the texts. Klein also referred to the allegation on the Frenemies podcast while discussing Amofah. In response, Keem stated: "His mother came out with a statement saying that I am in no way responsible for the tragic loss of Etika, and he's still doing it. He just made this big rant and said stuff that I have never said". In December 2019, The New York Times Magazine published an article acknowledging Amofah's impact as a YouTuber, with writer Jamie Lauren Keiles noting that his content's appeal "had always been figuring out which parts were real", and that he "was himself until the end". In an article from NBC News, esports journalist Rod Breslau avowed that Amofah "will go down as one of [the] greatest entertainers in video game history". A Change.org petition, which also asked for Amofah's original channel to be restored to preserve his legacy, Another Change.org petition which reached over two million signatures called for Amofah to be buried at YouTube headquarters, which he stated was his wish during an earlier livestream; however, this was considered unlikely to occur due to private land regulations. YouTube also attracted criticism for not including a tribute to Amofah in the 2019 installment of YouTube Rewind. Kjellberg later uploaded his own version of the video titled "YouTube Rewind 2019, but it's actually good", which featured a homage to Amofah among other deceased content creators in 2019.

alt=The Manhattan Bridge located in East River, New York, US, as viewed from the south.

Several days after his death, fans erected a memorial on Amofah's behalf on the pedestrian walkway of the Manhattan Bridge, leaving letters, fan art, Twizzlers (a candy Amofah enjoyed), Various fans changed their social media profile pictures to resemble Amofah's channel logo, alongside posting pictures of themselves with tattoos of his logo. A Twitter account, "Memories of Etika", was also established in dedication of Amofah. Posthumously, he was awarded the "Best Reaction" award at the 3rd Annual Smashies Awards which took place at Super Smash Con 2019. Fans of Amofah later pointed out on social media that the second DLC Fighter Pass for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate contains several characters Amofah had expressed a strong liking towards – including Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Min Min from Arms – following the February 2021 Nintendo Direct, leading Amofah to trend on Twitter.

In addition to tributes, various fundraisers for mental health charities came to fruition following Amofah's death. YouTuber and web designer Abe Hunter, along with YouTuber Double-A, converted Amofah's website into a fundraiser site where 100% of the profits were to be donated to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Amofah's name. They raised $11,315.25 in total, which Hunter donated to the NAMI on July 15, 2019. Several days later on July 21, 2019, Kjellberg along with American actor Jack Black started a fundraiser on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe for the NAMI. The YouTube group "im salt", a channel that posted highlight clips from Amofah's livestreams, also organized a charity stream which raised over $3,000. The mural was added to the game in February 2020. Abe Hunter, Double A and BK Foxx would organize another mural in dedication of Amofah in October 2022.