Ethan Ralph

Ethan Oliver Ralph (born September 20, 1985)[1][3] is an alt-right[3] American podcaster who came to prominence as a leader of the Gamergate harassment campaign,[4][5] during which he doxed and harassed game developer Brianna Wu, via his now-defunct blog, The Ralph Retort.[6] His primary platform is his podcast, the Killstream (stylized #Killstream).[7]

Ethan Ralph
Ralph in 2020
Born (1985-09-20) 20 September 1985[1]
Memphis, Tennessee[2]
CitizenshipAmerican
OccupationPodcaster, alt-right internet personality
Years active2014–present
Known forKillstream, The Ralph Retort
Children1

Ralph has been banned from services including YouTube,[8] where he formerly hosted his show. As of January 2021, the Killstream was hosted on Trovo Live, after receiving a month-long suspension from the alt-tech streaming service DLive earlier in January.[9][10] The show is also published on Apple Podcasts.[11]

On January 5th, 2022, Ralph pled nolo contendere (no contest) to disseminating revenge porn of his former girlfriend with whom he has a son and received a suspended sentence of 12 months.[12]

Career

Killstream

Ralph hosts a podcast called the Killstream.[7] Among the Killstream's guests have been Red Ice co-founder Henrik Palmgren[13] and Lana Lokteff.[14] According to Washingtonian, the Killstream "frequently shares extremist propaganda".[15]

Ralph's political views are alt-right,[3] and Politico has described Ralph as a "white supremacist-sympathetic livestreamer".[7] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Ralph has "featured numerous prominent white nationalists" on the Killstream.[16] Ralph self-identifies as a right-wing conservative, though in 2016 he told The Washington Post, "if you want to call me alt-right, that's probably fair".[3][17]

Originally hosted on YouTube, the show was distributed on the alt-tech platform DLive after YouTube banned the account in November 2018.[18] In January 2021, DLive suspended Ralph's account for a month and Ralph began broadcasting on Trovo Live.[10] The show is also published on Apple Podcasts.[11]

In the period of April–October 2020, the Killstream earned Ralph US$24,346 on DLive.[9]

Controversies

Gamergate

Ralph came to prominence as a leader of the Gamergate controversy,[4][5] during which he doxed and harassed game developer Brianna Wu.[6]

#Healstream

In 2018, Ralph accepted multiple donations via YouTube's Super Chats feature[note 1][18] to be donated to St. Jude's Children Hospital, some of which had attached messages written by Ralph's fans that Ralph read aloud verbatim to encourage more fans to donate despite some of the messages denying the Holocaust or celebrating the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting only days after it happened.[19] St. Jude's refused the donations from Ralph's fans, refunding all the donations from YouTube that came via the Killstream channel.[8] After a report in the Wall Street Journal on the incident, YouTube terminated Ralph's account on November 3, 2018.[18]

Bitcoin donations

Bitcoin payments totaling ₿28.15 (then worth US$522,000)[20] were made to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to far-right activists and white nationalist personalities, by a French donor before the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. From this total, Ralph received a donation of approximately 0.5BTC, then worth US$9,595.[17][21][20]

Revenge porn conviction

On August 11th, 2020, Ralph shared a video of him engaging in sexual intercourse with his then-girlfriend—without her knowledge or consent—with his viewers. He was arrested for disseminating revenge porn (Va. Code §18.2–386.2) in mid-December of that year. The case, initially tabled by the prosecution the following February, was reinstated by the prosecution upon request of his former girlfriend's father by August.[12]

On January 5th, 2022, Ralph pled nolo contendere (no contest) to disseminating revenge porn and received a suspended sentence of 12 months.[12] The woman he distributed revenge porn of is also the mother of his child,[22] and has two restraining orders against Ralph, one for herself and one for their son.[12]

Notes
  1. The Killstream is a podcast which was simulcast over YouTube. Super Chats are a YouTube feature where users can pay to make the message they write appear for longer than other messages which appear in the chat section of a livestream. [18]

References
  1. Driver's License of Ralph, Ethan Oliver (March 4, 2021). Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles:
  2. Ralph, Ethan [@TheRalphRetort] (May 18, 2020). "I was born in Memphis, but I lived across the bridge in West Memphis until I was 21" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. Moyer, Justin William (September 9, 2016). "Gamergate activist charged with assault on officers, public intoxication in Virginia". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 1, 2021. "If you want to call me alt-right, that's probably fair," Ralph said.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Gilbert, Ben (September 7, 2016). "A prominent leader of Gamergate was just arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer". Business Insider. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Florentine, Sharon (September 15, 2016). "Gamergate leader's arrest doesn't signal change". CIO. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. Wu, Brianna (September 7, 2016). "Gamergate Leader Arrested on Two Felony Counts of Assaulting a Police Officer". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Nguyen, Tina (November 11, 2020). "MAGA nation tries to rally around Trump with MAGApalooza". Politico. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. Koh, Yoree (November 3, 2018). "Hate Speech on Live 'Super Chats' Tests YouTube". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  9. Gais, Hannah; Hayden, Michael Edison (November 17, 2020). "Extremists Are Cashing in on a Youth-Targeted Gaming Website". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Ethan Ralph [@TheRalphRetort] (January 13, 2021). "DLive has suspended me for one month. The rest of this week's Killstreams will be broadcast on Trovo. We'll see how that pans out going forward. I have reason to think it might go well! Time will tell! Please follow me there!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021 – via Twitter.
  11. "#Killstream on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  12. Doerer, Kristen (January 24, 2022). "Far-Right Podcaster Ethan Ralph Convicted of Revenge Porn". Right Wing Watch. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  13. Gais, Hannah (October 23, 2019). "YouTube Yanks Second Red Ice Channel". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. Holt, Jared (August 21, 2018). "'Alt-Right' Radio Host: Alex Jones Is A 'Gateway Drug' To 'Our Side'". Right Wing Watch. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. Beaujon, Andrew (November 12, 2021). "There's a Very Real Potential for Violence at Saturday's MAGA Events in DC, Say Extremism-Watchers". Washingtonian. Retrieved January 19, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Extremists Are Cashing in on a Youth-Targeted Gaming Website". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  17. Kharif, Olga; Mehrotra, Kartikay (January 19, 2021). "Far Right Groups Get Bitcoin Windfall Weeks Before Capitol Riot". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 25, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "YouTube's Super Chat hijacked for hate speech". CNET. November 3, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. Alexander, Julia (November 5, 2019). "YouTube live streams get even more Twitch-like with Super Stickers launch". The Verge. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  20. "Alt-Right Groups and Personalities Involved In the January 2021 Capitol Riot Received Over $500K In Bitcoin From French Donor One Month Prior". Chainalysis. January 14, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  21. Reuters Staff (January 14, 2021). "Large bitcoin payment made to far-right individuals before U.S. Capitol attack: report". Reuters. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  22. Doerer, Kristen (February 11, 2021). "Far-Right Podcaster Accused of Revenge Porn Rejoices in Suspension of Case Against Him". Right Wing Watch. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
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