Screengrab via YouTube
Dillon the Hacker is a YouTuber who died at the age of 20, according to tweets from PewDiePie and BG Kumbi. In a tweet sent out on the morning of August 29, PewDiePie said, “Dillon the hacker was such a talented young comedian. He successfully trolled my entire audience at one point. Such sad news to hear about his passing. My condolences to his family and close ones. RIP Dillon.”
On his Twitter bio, Dillon called himself a “20-year-old YouTuber with the goal of chaos” and on his YouTube channel description wrote, “I am Dillon the Hacker, I am the new meaning of rebel, I will hack everything you love.” Dillon said on his Facebook page that he was from Mesa, Arizona. At the time of writing, no cause of death for Dillon has been made public.
Dillon the Hacker first rose to prominence in 2014 when he recorded a series of videos making fun of prominent YouTubers including PewDiePie and Smosh. Dillon’s first attack on PewDiePie was named, “PewDiePie roast… PewDiePie sucks!” During the clip, Dillon said that he would throw PewDiePie in a trash can and called himself PewDiePie’s “worst nightmare.”
During one video, Dillon threatened to woo PewDiePie’s wife, Marzia Bisognin, from the Swede. Dillon’s YouTube account was suspended in 2016 but was later reinstated, with PewDiePie’s support. Though later, Dillon reignited the feud, alleging that PewDiePie had disrespected him during a trip to England.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Dillon Was ‘My Only Friend in This Dark World,’ the YouTuber’s Best Friend Wrote on Twitter
Twitter/Dillon the HackerDillon the Hacker pictured on his Twitter page.
While Dillon’s friend and collaborator BG Kumpi aka Kevin Stafford also tweeted, “It was hard to keep this in for so long. RIP Dillon… my only friend in this dark world. Drink a Mountain Dew in Heaven with Jesus for me buddy.”
In a February 2017 interview with The Daily Dot, Dillon identified Stafford as his “best friend” saying, “My best friend Kevin is also a YouTuber (he is better known as BG Kumbi) and he supports my videos and has promoted my channel to his fans to help me.” Dillon said in the same interview, in response to a question about whether or not he was an actor, “There is nothing about Dillon the Hacker that is fake. You have so many “actors” on YouTube playing fake characters for attention like Boogie2988, or Shane Dawson who dresses up in ridiculous costumes. My goal is to bring reality back to YouTube by telling it like it is.”
2. It’s Not Clear When Dillon Passed Away, His Last Social Media Activity Came on July 28
It’s unclear when Dillon, whose real name is Dillon Prescott Henderson, passed away. Many have tweeted that Dillon died sometime in July, although Heavy could find no proof of this. Dillon’s last activity on Twitter came on July 28 when he commented on watching episodes of the Disney Channel sitcom, “Boy Meets World.”
Another friend, Tyler Damsma, wrote on Twitter that Dillon had died on July 28. Damsa later said that had been Dillon Henderson’s roommate. On his Facebook page, Tyler Damsma says that he is a student at Montclair State University. While Dillon was a fan of the group “Montclair State University – Class of 2021” on Facebook. Heavy has contacted Montclair for comment. During his interview with the Daily Dot, Dillon said that he had been hacking and coding since the age of 2 and that he had an IQ of 143.
A day earlier, Dillon posted a pinned tweet which was a link to a SoundCloud page for a band named, Animole Planet. Dillon’s last YouTube video was uploaded on July 12, 2019, titled “Freaky Friday (2003): The Worst Scene in Cinema.”
3. Another Friend Paid Tribute to Dillon as a ‘Genuinely Kind & Funny Person’
Heavy has reached out to Kevin Stafford as well as others who have said that they are friends of Dillon’s. In announcing Dillon’s death, Stafford retweeted a statement from another Twitter user named MC Selma. Selma had said in other messages that Dillon had died in July but that news of the death was being kept private by his family. Selma also said that she “can’t give out any details regarding this.”
She had said in a message, “Many of you may be familiar with the name “Dillon the Hacker.” He is someone who has provided us with such amazing satirical content. It’s why it is with great sadness for me to say that a month ago he passed away. He is someone who, on a personal level, I have shared some great moments with. Although our time together was not long, he was genuinely such a kind and funny person. He will be missed.”
4. In 2017, Dillon Identified Himself as the Leader of 4Chan & Anonymous
In his February 2017 Daily Dot interview, Dillon said that he was the leader of 4Chan and hacktivist group Anonymous. Dillon said he was the leader because he was “the one brave enough to step up and take it. I saw a position that needed to be filled and I stepped up to the plate. I have been the leader ever since.”
During the same interview, Dillon said that his father worked on oil rigs and was away a lot therefore didn’t “really know about [his] hacker life.” Dillon then said that his mother “doesn’t really understand what YouTube is.”
5. A PewDiePie Subreddit Says That The Reports Surrounding Dillon the Hacker’s Death Are a Hoax
Screengrab via YouTube
Not long after PewDiePie’s tweet was posted did a subreddit appear on the YouTube superstar’s page alleging that the tweet about Dillon’s death was a hoax. One of the reasons for the skepticism came from Selma’s posting of happy photos in the month following Dillon’s passing.
At the time writing however, many on the thread do not believe that Dillon’s death is a hoax. Some have cited a tweet from Pupinia Stewart as evidence. That tweet read, “when i was a teen, dillon was my hero. then he became my closest friend. he made my teenage years so much brighter and i’m happy i was able to get to know such an amazing guy. rest easy dill ?.”
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