Following the sudden death of Kevin Samuels, who was a divisive YouTuber renowned for offering controversial relationship advice, which was confirmed by the Atlanta Police Department and his mother, this past week, social media was trending with his passing.
Last week, when first responders had already started doing CPR on Samuels, officers were summoned to an apartment in Atlanta “about a person hurt.” Before being transferred to Piedmont Hospital and later declared dead, a nurse at the residence informed authorities that Samuels was having chest symptoms.
While the New York Times claims that he was 57 years old, NBC News says that the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office stated that he was 53 years old.
Samuels has amassed 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and more than 1.2 million Instagram followers since joining the platform in October 2015. This is mostly due to the contentious opinions that many people label toxic and misogynistic. Women Should Let Men Use Them, How Much Does Your Submission Cost, Modern Women Are Average at Best, and Women Love When Men Cheat are some of the titles of videos.
The controversial figure’s online persona, how he became well-known on social media, his connections to popular culture, and fresh information on his tragic demise are all thoroughly analyzed below.
Samuels: From Fashion Guru to Controversial Figure
Before grabbing the attention of millions with his divisive opinions, Samuels started his YouTube channel to offer fashion tips.
According to the Oklahoma Gazette, Samuels was named the founder of Life & Style in 2016. At the time, he served as an image consultant for clients in an effort to help them feel “their best.”
Using the abbreviation “B.I.T.Z.” to represent his ultimate goal for his clients—”being in their zone,” according to Uncovering Oklahoma—he would remind clients that dressing well gave a positive impression.
Samuels’ career path began when he was assigned a PR project for a lawyer who had a meeting with the state’s governor. He claimed to have assisted her in “picking out the ensembles” that she wore and afterward obtained qualifications to distinguish himself as an image consultant. At that time, he started his YouTube channel, which featured mainly videos about life and style.
In May 2016, he said on his YouTube channel, “People can expect to receive high-level fashion and style ideas boiled down to the practical level that the normal, everyday man and lady needs, finds beneficial, and can immediately act upon.”
Samuels Starts Offering Dating Guidance on YouTube
After a while, Samuels’ YouTube content started to diverge significantly from the lifestyle and fashion videos his then-subscribers were used to watching.
Samuels’ content in 2020 shifted to love advice and mostly stopped discussing scents or fashion as his videos gained popularity. These more recent videos, some of which stretched for well over two hours, marked the beginnings of his contentious take-sharing online.
They included “One Thing That Keeps Women Single and Unmarried,” “Pretty Mother of 2 Still Thinks She’s a 10,” and “Biggest Reason Modern Women Aren’t Married.” The influencer saw a spike in views after switching to thumbnails of other people rather than himself, and a few clips truly helped him become well-known.
His Relationship Receives a Lot of Attention—and Criticism
Samuels’ “You’re Average at Best” video, which was published on December 9, 2020, has amassed over 2.8 million views since then.
In the video, Samuels concurred with a woman who described her appearance as “average,” telling her that women who pursue things that are “beyond their range” wind up dying alone.
Samuels spoke with DJ Vlad about his words after the video became popular on WorldStarHipHop and other platforms, and he responded to Vlad’s assertions that many people were startled by the way Kevin spoke about women.
Samuels claimed, “I can remove anybody from the context in a clip.” “That video sparked a discussion, and more ladies joined in by saying, “You know what? When I initially saw this clip, I was astonished. However, I want to explain why I was astonished since nowadays, people don’t tell women the truth.
In one of the other viral videos, Samuels advises women that if they haven’t been married by the time they are 35, they are “leftover women.”
In an Instagram Live video, he remarked, “You are what is left.” Men are aware that you probably have a problem. I’m going with you there whether you want to hear it or not. You don’t want to hear the truth, but I’m telling it to you.
More than 33,300 individuals signed a petition on Change.org to have Samuels removed from Instagram and YouTube, despite the fact that the New York Times reported that more than 1,700 people had paid between $5 and $20 every month for Samuels’ newsletter to hear him speak on such themes.
Writer Eartha Hopkins dissected Samuels’ argument that his perspective “represents the modern, high-value Black guy” in a May 2021 article on the Grio, claiming that his “assertions merely support an Anglo-Saxon mindset utilizing Black women as an easy scapegoat.”
According to Hopkins, this “tough-love” advice “oozes misogyny, magnifying a historically racist and westernized ideal of beauty that only serves to humiliate Black women.”
Kevin Samuels: Death Sparks Mixed Reactions
The news of Samuels’ passing surprised many last weeks.
Beverly Samuels-Burch, her son’s mother, told NBC News that she found out about her son’s passing on social media but she chose not to elaborate.
“Putting something on social media was a poor idea. I had no idea at all. I wasn’t even informed,” she stated in a phone call. “All I’m asking is for people to pray for us,”
In the days since the YouTuber’s demise, Joe Budden, T.I., Ebro, and others have commented about it. T.I. explicitly said that he hoped God would “welcome” Kevin’s contribution to earth and shared his message with a meme of Samuels labeling people “big and average.”
The rapper posted, “Rest Well Big Dog.” “May God accept and be pleased with your service, brother. It was definitely a thankless responsibility to speak the unheard’s truth. I’m grateful for the occasions when we could discuss philosophy and celebrate accomplishments together. Respect and love for King
Budden referred to individuals who made supportive comments about Samuels’ passing as “miserable bastards” and that he found it “disgusting what some of y’all do when death occurs.”
When responding to the news of Samuels’ passing, Professor Uju Anya mentioned his views, writing, “who knew all this time he was telling Black women we’ll die alone and unwanted, ran through and leftover, Kevin Samuels was talking about himself.”
“Kevin Samuels has built a successful career on blatantly defaming Black women for gain. According to journalist Ernest Owens, “He empowered the most toxic people to portray tired and damaging narratives about Black women.” What a shameful life to live, whether you’re alive or dead. All I have for that misogynist is that.
According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.
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