The mother of popular and controversial YouTube personality Kevin Samuels has confirmed that he died on Thursday morning at 56, NBC News reports.
Rumors of his death flooded social media on Thursday. By Friday morning, Samuels’ mother, Beverly Samuels-Burch, confirmed his death, which she learned about through social media.
“That was a terrible thing for social media to put that out. I didn’t even know. I hadn’t even been notified,” Samuels-Burch said.
“All I’m doing is requesting that people pray for us.”
Police responded to a call at East Paces Ferry Road NE on Thursday morning “regarding a person injured.” Once inside, police saw first responders performing CPR on an unresponsive man who was later identified as Samuels.
A woman inside the apartment said Samuels complained about chest pain before falling to the ground. He was taken to Piedmont Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Samuels was best known for his controversial relationship advice that many felt shamed Black women. With over 1 million YouTube subscribers, Samuels gained popularity around his often harsh opinions on dating as an adult.
Just last week, Samuels was trending after calling unmarried women over 35 “leftover,” Revolt reports.
“If you live to 35 and you’re not married, you’re a leftover. You’re leftover. Men know you may have a problem,” Samuels said.
“Whether you want to hear it or not, I’ll go with you. I’m telling you the truth you don’t want to hear.”
Some of his most popular videos are titled “How Much Do You Cost to Submit?” and “Modern Women Are Average at Best?” Following initial rumors about his death, debates heightened as many seemingly celebrated news of his passing,
“I don’t believe Kevin Samuels is dead, for the record,” one woman tweeted. “But me not feeling bad if he is doesn’t
mean I’m ‘celebrating’ it. He went out of his way to be cruel. We are not required to mourn virtues he didn’t show. And asking Black women, of all ppl, to show tact is audacious.”“Kevin Samuels told broke men & mediocre faced women to shoot in their range and only one group wants him dead because of it. LMFAO,” one man tweeted.