Etika

Etika
Etika
	Amofah in May 2019
Personal information
Born	Desmond Daniel Amofah; May 12, 1990; Brooklyn, New York City, US
Died	c. June 19, 2019 (aged 29); East River, New York City, US
Other names	Iceman; Guile-kun;
Occupations	YouTuber; streamer;
Parent	Owuraku Amofah (father);
Website	etikaworldnetwork.com
	YouTube information
Channels	EWNetwork (terminated); EtikaFRFX (terminated); TR1Iceman;
Years active	2006–2019
Genres	Let's Play; gaming; vlog; variety;
Subscribers	1.3 million (combined)
Total views	146 million (combined)
Creator Awards

Desmond Daniel Amofah (May 12, 1990 – c. June 19, 2019), better known as Etika, was an American YouTuber and live streamer. He became known online for his enthusiastic reactions to Super Smash Bros. character trailers and Nintendo Direct presentations, and for playing and reacting to various games. The son of Ghanaian politician Owuraku Amofah, he resided in Brooklyn, New York.

Starting his online career in 2007, Amofah created his main YouTube channel, "EWNetwork" (Etika World Network), in 2012. His fanbase was dubbed the "JOYCONBOYZ" in reference to the Nintendo Switch controller, the Joy-Con. He garnered popularity following the release of Super Smash Bros. 4, primarily stemming from his reaction videos of news surrounding the game. His content consisted of playthroughs of various video games, alongside reaction videos and pre-recorded material.

Between October 2018 and May 2019, Amofah demonstrated signs of mental distress, threatening to commit suicide on multiple occasions and being hospitalized several times. During this period, Amofah uploaded pornography to the EWNetwork channel, resulting in its termination; he then posted statements on social media alluding to suicide. After issuing an apology, Amofah created another channel, "EtikaFRFX", which was terminated for identical reasons. He proceeded to display erratic behavior publicly, including posting cryptic messages online and streaming himself being detained by the police.

Amofah was reported missing on June 20, 2019, after an apologetic video was uploaded to his "TR1Iceman" channel.^[b] After recovering his body from the East River near the Manhattan Bridge, officials confirmed Amofah's death on June 25, concluding that he committed suicide by drowning. Amofah's death was met with expressions of shock and grief by fans and fellow YouTubers, with many observers commenting that the signs of Amofah's mental deterioration were either dismissed or ignored.^[3]^[4]^[5] Numerous commemorations were held to honor Amofah's career as a prominent gaming personality, including fan-made memorials and murals.

Cite error: There are <ref group=‡> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=‡}} template (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Jacobo, Julia (June 26, 2019). "YouTube gaming personality Desmond 'Etika' Amofah's died by suicide, officials say". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
^ Romine, Taylor; Andone, Dakin (June 23, 2019). "Missing YouTuber Etika's belongings recovered on the Manhattan Bridge, police sources say". CNN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
^ Hernandez, Patricia (July 2, 2019). "Too many people took Etika's mental health struggles as a joke". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
^ Keiles, Jamie Lauren (December 23, 2019). "Etika, a Charismatic YouTuber Who Struggled Through His Online Fame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
^ Rosenblatt, Kalhan (June 26, 2019). "Etika was a larger-than-life YouTube star. Researchers are unsure how that affected his mental health". NBC News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.

[ABCNews-3] Jacobo, Julia (June 26, 2019). "YouTube gaming personality Desmond 'Etika' Amofah's died by suicide, officials say". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.

[CNN1-4] Romine, Taylor; Andone, Dakin (June 23, 2019). "Missing YouTuber Etika's belongings recovered on the Manhattan Bridge, police sources say". CNN. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2023.

[Polygon1_(Mental_Health)-6] Hernandez, Patricia (July 2, 2019). "Too many people took Etika's mental health struggles as a joke". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.

[nytimes1-7] Keiles, Jamie Lauren (December 23, 2019). "Etika, a Charismatic YouTuber Who Struggled Through His Online Fame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2021.

[NBC_News-8] Rosenblatt, Kalhan (June 26, 2019). "Etika was a larger-than-life YouTube star. Researchers are unsure how that affected his mental health". NBC News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.

[‡ 1]

[a]

[b]

[3]

[4]

[5]