Mental health challenges aside, FouseyTube amassed great followership on all social media platforms through his numerous videos made mostly as pranks.
He dabbled into music, releasing a song and accompanying video during his earliest times as an entertainer. Also, FouseyTube, born Yousef Saleh Erakat is an actor who played the role of Jonathan in a 2-part Tyler Perry’s Madea movie.
Above all, FouseyTube is known as a YouTuber and has had several other YouTube pages aside from FouseyTube which has over 10M subscribers.
Right now, he has a reputation that isn’t so attractive as his struggle with mental health has gotten him into a lot of trouble.
Due to one of his recent controversies, he was arrested by the Miami police in August 2023 for prank-calling the department.
Here’s all you should know about FouseyTube and what got him into this trouble…
Who is FouseyTube?
This famous YouTuber was born Yousef Saleh Erakat on January 22, 1990, in Fremont, California. His parents are Palestinians and so he has roots linking him to Palestine.
Yousef grew up with 3 other siblings and is the last of the 4. His older sibling Noura Erakat is a legal scholar and professor working at Rutgers University.
Growing up seemed quite straightforward for him as he attended San Jose State University. The actor graduated in 2013, with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Given his theatre background, FouseyTube thought it wise to pursue a career in acting and so went to Los Angeles to see his aspirations through.
He lived up to his dreams as he has been featured in Tyler Perry productions and other movies including;
- Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween (1 &2) as Jonathan
- The Secret Saturdays as Emperor
- NigaHiga as a Crew Member
- Double Trouble as Trevor
- We Love You as Ford
FouseyTube has Been an On and Off YouTuber
Even before he graduated from the University, Yousef had started several YouTube channels and was already working his way up the ladder on the platform.
He initially started off putting out fitness-related content but that didn’t do much for him so he diverted into making videos centered on the Middle East.
2 years after graduating, FouseyTube released his first single and an accompanying music video. The title of the song was ‘Prideland’. Then, he was known simply as ‘Fousey’.
Subsequently, Erakat’s talents began to get him huge deals and contracts. He splurged on himself and even embarked on a tour with a fellow YouTuber named Roman Atwood.
In 2017, on June 3, to be precise, FouseyTube earned a YouTube Diamond Play Button as he reached the 10m subscribers mark on YouTube.
In 2018, Yousef Saleh Erakat who you now know as FouseyTube announced his plans to host an event. He named the event ‘Hate Dies, Love Arrives’ and bragged so much about the event and his envisioned success for it.
The day for the event came, on July 15, 2018, and a series of unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances caused it to flop.
Not only was the turn-out to the event low, the Police had to shut it down because there was a bomb scare at the location.
FouseyTube couldn’t recover from this heartbreaking experience. He lost a lot and would have also lost his parent’s house.
A couple of weeks later, on August 31, 2018, FouseyTube began to delete content from his social media platforms. The following months saw him losing the zeal to do anything on social media and he even posted a video in 2019 stating that he was reluctant to create content.
This whole situation tarried for 3 years and he would have been forgotten in the social media space.
However, in 2019, he launched a boxing career. With 2 losses and 2 nose surgeries to fix an injury gotten from the sport, he vowed never to enter the ring again.
FouseyTube Returned to YouTube in 2021 and has remained present on his social media platforms. Upon his return, he announced some big projects like his book launch, a new name, and new content.
He Has Gotten Several Backlashes Following Some Controversies
FouseyTube isn’t new to controversies. In fact, it may seem like he lives for it these days.
The Month of August of 2023 produced a lot of these controversies. On the 6th of the month, Erakat had an encounter with an intoxicated woman while he was live streaming on Twitch. They met at the airport and the encounter revealed that the woman was a victim of s*x trafficking.
FouseyTube flirted and made out with the woman and later disappeared with her. When he returned, he bragged about having s*x with the woman but this didn’t go down well with viewers.
For this, he came under heavy criticism till he revealed it was all a prank and even broke down in tears.
This incident and the resulting condemnations led to him exiting the Twitch app. He quickly announced that he would continue his vlogging channel on the streaming platform known as KICK.
Another incident that led to him being under heavy criticism came a few days later.
The LGBT community said that the Palestinian had exhibited hateful conduct towards the community. He used an ‘F’ slur which prompted his condemnation from the community.
The result of this was his being banned from Twitch.
In about 2 weeks, he was banned and also switched from the platform to Kick following misconduct.
Some other encounters have included him hitting fellow YouTuber Jack Doherty during a heated argument. He also had a situation with The Island Boys and the list seems to increase by the day.
FouseyTube Got Arrested For Prank-calling the Miami State Police Department
On the 23rd of August 2023, FouseyTube got arrested in his room at the International Hotel in Miami. This came after he swatted the police force by himself.
FouseyTube called the police department dispatch line alleging that he was in trouble and there was a gun to his head. He made a huge deal of the situation and insisted that a dispatch of police officers be sent to him because he was in danger.
When the Miami State Police arrived at the scene, they realized it was a prank call and that Fousey was actually still alive in the hotel room with his friend, Sneako.
The officers went ahead to arrest him while the YouTuber started an argument with them over his arrest. Faking a crime is actually a crime and so he wouldn’t have gotten off the hook just like that.
Yousef however argued that he feared that his life would be in danger and they still decided to arrest him. Quoting him he asked, “Are you going to arrest a Palestine Muslim who’s viral? Are y’all d*mb?”.
As he was being taken away, FouseyTube screamed ‘Hashtag Free Fousey!’.
All these happened while he was on a live stream.
READ ALSO: 10 Top Female YouTubers You Should Keep Up With
He Suffers Several Mental Health Challenges
Why fousey giving himself brain damage over people texting him?? pic.twitter.com/ZJHLgMqlk1
— Misko☂️🎈 (@Im_Misko) August 22, 2023
The 34-year-old YouTube sensation has revealed a number of times that he suffers mental health challenges. Yousef Saleh Erakat has mentioned these on his vlogs and even on VH1.
According to his Wikipedia page, the list of his mental health challenges is depression, addiction, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Many people believe this because he has shown erratic behaviors in recent times. One such time was when Fousey was caught yelling at a fan. He also fired his assistant while on livestream because she made an accusation of Fousey emotionally manipulating her.
On August 21, 2023, a clip made it to social showing Fousey acting like a child in need of attention while in the car with Sneako, a fellow social media sensation.
FouseyTube’s actions have also involved him hitting himself on the head and basically acting strange in public.
Everything written here by Jukebugs is only but a cumulation of facts and statements from research. The site is not in support of any misconduct, hate speech, violence, or self-harm. If you or anyone you know has mental health issues, you can contact Mental Health America for help. If it’s a case of suicide, please reach out to 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or texting ‘988’ to the Crisis Text Line ‘741741’. Another alternative is to visit the website 988lifeling.org.
