The family of American beauty influencer Ethan Peters, popularly known as Ethanisupreme, has announced that the 17-year-old makeup guru died last weekend. While his cause of death is unknown, his father and friends have noted he was struggling with addiction.
‘He was a kind soul, who accepted everyone for who they were,’ Peters’ father Gerald told Fox News. Peters had gained over half a million followers on Instagram for his dramatic make-up looks and was open about his battle with drug addiction on his private Instagram account, according to his friend Ava Louise.
‘I dropped acid and now I’m getting sober,’ he shared on Instagram in March. ‘I had a horrible Adderall addiction I was counteracting with Xanax and weed and was doing other fucked shit, trying acid made me realise how much I actually want to be sober. I miss the clarity I had from it.’
Louise has since tweeted that she believes his death was an ‘awful accident’ after speculation that he committed suicide began online. The rumours in part spread because of the immense trolling he experienced, and that has continued since his death.
Peters was accused of racism and transphobia during his career, something many online used to justify celebrating his death after it was announced. ‘A transphobic, racist, black-facer makeup artist has died from a drug overdose.... we love to see it, rest in hell Ethan supreme,’ one social media user tweeted. ‘Aw Ethan is supreme passed away? one less racist,’ another added.
Variations of this sentiment have been tweeted countless times, with some sharing memes of him ‘waking up in hell’ and others saying ‘God’s timing is always right’. Following the backlash though, others are now questioning how far cancel culture has gone that the death of a child can be celebrated so mercilessly.
‘I can't believe people are actually celebrating & laughing at 17 year old Ethan is supreme's death,’ one social media user said. ‘I understand his behaviour was problematic at best. Your words are not hurting him now. You're hurting his friends & family that loved him.’
‘You can simultaneously talk about how he was problematic and did horrible things to people AND not be an asshole,’ another tweeted. ‘He was racist, transphobic and a plethora of other bad things but he was still 17. 17 is so young to be gone FOREVER. He still had a plethora of time to make change and do better. Addiction is no joke. And y’all cracking jokes are terrible. Let his friends and family grieve.’
His friends and colleagues in the beauty community have since jumped to his defence with Manny MUA tweeting ‘I know he’s made many many mistakes but to say he deserved to pass away is horrible and inhuman.’
‘Ethan was well liked and well respected in the beauty industry,’ Louise shared online after seeing the backlash. ‘About a year ago he turned to drugs due to the pressure of being famous online at such a young age. He became problematic recently due to drug induced mania. He’s a good fucking person. He didn’t deserve to die.’
While the tide may be turning towards defending Peters’ family’s right to grieve in peace, the immense amount of tweets celebrating his death speaks volumes about cancel culture and how ghastly inhumane it has become.
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