Ethan Peters was an influencer who stood out from the rest, his death at the age of 17 has shocked his fans and fellow online beauty vloggers.
His father Gerald Peters, who found him unresponsive in his bedroom on Sunday, told Fox News that he was certain Ethan's death had been caused by a drug overdose. This is yet to be confirmed by the authorities.
Fellow influencer Ava Louise also made mention of Ethan’s past struggle with drug addiction. In a heartfelt tribute on Instagram, she said: “Ethan Made mistakes but they were so small. He was a teenager struggling with drug addiction- drugs make you act so out of character. He was the most caring and smart person I’ve ever met”.
“ His online persona was not a good representation of the best friend I had. Ethan Saved me so many times. I wish I could’ve saved him. I will forever regret not intervening harder. I will never forgive myself for it. But I ask all of you to smack drugs out of your friend's hands. Buy them test kits. Force them to get help even if they say no. I never want any of you to feel what I feel right now. I lost someone I can never replace and I don’t know if I’ll ever bounce back from this. I really don’t”.
The post was accompanied by a clip of the two of them together on her last birthday.
Ethan had more than 500,000 Instagram followers and nearly 140,000 YouTube subscribers. According to various sources, before he began posting about the beauty industry, he ran a meme Instagram account that amassed 1.3 million followers which he then sold for $25,000 at the tender age of 13. His YouTube career then took off in 2017 and saw his somewhat edgy posts garner more than 500,000 Instagram followers and nearly 140,000 YouTube subscribers.
In addition to his make-up tutorials, he would post product reviews and day-in-the-life-style vlogs. He also recently launched a clothing brand, not surprisingly called Hellboy, which he described as being “ gay hottopic or something."
May you rest in peace Ethan Peters.
