Etika
Desmond Daniel Amofah, better known as Etika, was an American YouTuber and live streamer. Amofah became known online for his dramatic reactions to Super Smash Bros. character trailers, Nintendo Direct presentations, and for playing and reacting to various games. He resided in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, his father is the Ghanaian politician Owuraku Amofah and his granduncle is the former Ghanian president Nana Akufo-Addo. Starting his online career in 2007, Amofah created his main YouTube channel, "EWNetwork", 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, reaction videos, and pre-recorded material. Across his multiple YouTube channels, he amassed over 1 million subscribers and 146 million views.
Between October 2018 and May 2019, Amofah demonstrated signs of mental distress, threatening to commit suicide on multiple occasions, and was 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 apologizing, 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. After recovering his body from the East River near the Manhattan Bridge, officials confirmed Amofah's death on June 25, finding it to be a suicide by drowning. Amofah's death was met with expressions of shock and grief by fans and fellow YouTubers, with some observers commenting that the signs of Amofah's mental deterioration were either dismissed or ignored. Commemorations were held to honor Amofah's career as a gaming personality, including fan-made memorials and murals.
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 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. His granduncle Nana Akufo-Addo served as the president of Ghana from 2017 to 2025. 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.
Based in New York, Amofah primarily resided in Brooklyn. 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 started modeling in his early twenties and continued until 2015. He owned an account on the modeling and social media website Model Mayhem, where he stated he was "quite tall" and that his last measurement of height was "six feet, six inches". Amofah also dealt with homelessness, temporarily living in a shelter after quitting his job at Uniqlo to become a full-time YouTuber.
Amofah stated in a tweet that the pseudonym "Etika" came from the 2003 video game Sonic Battle. In the game, players could input a cheat code titled "EkiTa"; he decided to switch the T and the K to create his username as he "liked that result better". He was inspired to grow a hi-top fade from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which featured the hairstyle in the game.
YouTube career
Having previously used the YouTube account "TR1Iceman", Amofah created a new YouTube account under the username "EWNetwork" 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, and reached over 130,000 subscribers on his "TR1Iceman" channel. In total, Amofah accumulated over 1 million subscribers and 146 million views across his multiple YouTube channels.Origins and popularity (2012–2018)
Amofah's content was mainly Nintendo-focused. 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. Amofah's reaction videos were noted for their characteristic exaggerated and energetic style; they typically featured moments such as him falling out of his chair in elated shock and tossing objects around his room. Amofah's channel garnered popularity in 2014 due to his reaction videos covering new information about the then-unreleased fighting game Super Smash Bros. 4. One of his most notable reactions to the game was to the announcement of Pokémon character Mewtwo's inclusion as a DLC fighter; during the reaction, Amofah excitedly screams "Mewtwo!" with several profanities, in particular "Holy shit" and "My dick!" The video became Amofah's most viewed video on EWNetwork and was retweeted by the creator of the game, Masahiro Sakurai. A similar video where Amofah reacted to the announcement of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also went viral in 2018. 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. Despite his earnings, Amofah revealed in a June 2017 video that he had dealt with multiple "chargebacks", or "fake donations" of large amounts of money sent to his PayPal account, which resulted in Amofah being charged hundreds of dollars in processing fees.Amofah dubbed his fans the "JOYCONBOYZ", after the Nintendo Switch controllers known as the Joy-Con. The origin of the name came from a viral livestream in November 2016 where Amofah purported to have a Nintendo Switch console before its 2017 release. After the stream came under scrutiny by viewers, it was revealed that the model Amofah displayed was 3D-printed by fellow YouTuber "Sandqvist" at his request, following a pre-recorded video Amofah uploaded titled "Life with Nintendo Switch" featuring the fake console. 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, Overwatch, 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.
Channel terminations (2018–2019)
During the last months of his life, Amofah publicly demonstrated erratic behavior and signs of mental distress, which drew media attention while concerning both his fans and the YouTube community. On October 23, 2018, Amofah was temporarily suspended from Twitter for using the word nigga in a tweet. He responded to the suspension by uploading a video of himself frequently saying the word and defending himself for using it. During the video, Amofah asserted that the word had been embraced among black people and should no longer be considered a racial slur. Amofah also mentioned rappers Travis Scott and Drake, who use the word in their songs. Two days later, Amofah uploaded pornography to EWNetwork, which violated YouTube's policies and consequently led to the channel's termination. 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. Several followers felt that the messages and posts were suicidal, which quickly generated panic among his fanbase. Inactive for three days after the incident, Amofah checked into a mental hospital where he claimed he was examined by doctors and given anxiety medication. He later apologized on his subreddit r/EtikaRedditNetwork. Amofah also cited issues with YouTube's rules as one of the main factors for shutting down his channel, claiming on Twitter that he purposefully deleted the account "as a form of protesting against edgy content demonetization and PC policy". 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. Following said termination, Amofah posted several tweets related to suicide, the first one stating "Savonarola! I'm going to kill myself! You lot certainly have already. Shame on you all, silly humans". He then tweeted he would kill himself by shooting himself in the head. This tweet led to his detainment and hospitalization. Christine "Alice Pika" Cardona, who had dated Amofah from 2011 to 2017, confirmed that she was with him when he was taken to the hospital. Days later, Amofah posted a photoshopped picture of himself holding a gun, which Cardona later confirmed was fake. After his detainment, Amofah tweeted an apology on April 25, explaining his behavior as dark shock humor.
Amofah's erratic behavior continued throughout the rest of April. On April 29, after tweeting a vast quantity of cryptic messages, including homophobic and anti-semitic slurs which he later deleted, he blocked close friends and other YouTubers. Later that day, he livestreamed himself being detained by police from his apartment to over 19,000 viewers on Instagram Live, after a concerned fan notified police about his tweets. 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". Lasting for 45 minutes and resulting in Amofah trending on Twitter, the stream culminated in the police escorting Amofah out of his apartment, after which he was carried on a stretcher and taken to a Brooklyn hospital in an ambulance. Amofah was soon released from the hospital, posting a picture of himself holding a release form which revealed his diagnosis of agitation.
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". Keem questioned whether Amofah's actions leading up to the interview were publicity stunts, and if Amofah had a genuine mental breakdown. Denying that his actions were a publicity stunt, Amofah later claimed that life was a "video game" and that "death means nothing". Keem then asked Amofah if life is a simulation, "then why live?... Just jump off a cliff? If it's just a simulation, who cares?" The interview climaxed with Amofah and Keem arguing for several minutes before Amofah abruptly left; Keem stated that Amofah blocked him on Twitter shortly after their call. The same day, Amofah posted a livestream of himself consuming raw eggs while making monkey noises, and then playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Following the interview, Amofah was detained again on May 1 for assaulting a police officer. 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. He was not arrested for the incident but instead taken to a hospital, as confirmed by a tweet from Cardona. Detained for two weeks, Amofah was released on May 14 and continued making reaction videos on his TR1Iceman channel; he also claimed that the officer had attacked him in response to his gesture, and that he had hit the police officer in self-defense. His last videos included reactions to the Sonic the Hedgehog film and Black Mirror along with Nintendo Direct presentations.
Amofah's erratic behavior around this time was perceived by a significant portion of the online world as humorous in nature, rather than indicative of genuine mental ailment. The video in which Amofah assaulted a police officer was posted online with the caption "LMFAOOOOOOOO", with the clip featuring witnesses to the event laughing. On social media, many viewers mocked his behavior by spamming clown emojis. Among his fanbase, rumors circulated that Amofah's various controversies formed part of an alternate reality game, with such rumors emerging from a stream Amofah posted in September 2017 and becoming more prominent following his first channel termination.