Ethan Peters (March 8, 2003 – September 5, 2020), colloquially known as Ethan Is Supreme, was an American beauty blogger,

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

, and social media personality. He generated a following on various platforms including

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

where he shared his

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

, and

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

-inspired style of makeup and clothing. Peters died on September 5 2020 in Texas at the age of 17.

Career

Ethan Peters started using social media in the 7th or 8th grade. He created a

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

account, Betch, before selling it for $25,000 at the age of 13. He then initiated his career in the beauty community and on social media. Peters became a YouTuber on April 24, 2017. He began using makeup at a young age and by the summer of 2017, he had amassed a following of 100,000 people. Peters was forced to leave his private Christian school, Alpha Omega Academy, because of his sexuality and social media activity "code of moral conduct." Even though he was not expelled from the school, the administration implied that he was not welcome, despite receiving support from fellow students. Peters started doing online school and opened the clothing line Hellboy. , Peters had 139,000 subscribers on YouTube and half a million followers on Instagram.

Artistry

Peters'

style included a mix of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

. He described his style as "think gay but kind of dark." He gained inspiration from various music videos, including those of his favorite musical artist,

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

. Other artists he admired included

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

. In a 2019 interview, Peters shared that he was inspired by social media personality Tana Mongeau.

Personal life

Peters was from

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...

. His parents were property investors. He was gay. Peters advocated against racism during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He posted about his experience being bullied at a young age. It has been speculated that Peters struggled with

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

, the likely cause of his death in his home on September 5, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Ethan 2003 births 2020 deaths American male bloggers American bloggers LGBTQ people from Texas YouTubers from Texas Fashion influencers American make-up artists American gay artists People from Huntsville, Texas 21st-century American artists LGBTQ YouTubers 21st-century American LGBTQ people Drug-related deaths in Texas