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Content warning for discussions of sexual assault and violence
Amra ‘Flitz’ Ricketts, a regular contributor to YouTube network Smosh Games, has left the collective after several accusations of sexual assault.
“I wanted to let all of you know that effective immediately, I’m leaving Smosh Games,” Ricketts wrote on Twitter yesterday.
“Last week I was accused of some of the worst things imaginable by a group of old friends and former roommate. While I deny all allegations against me, this community, my family at Smosh Games, and the team behind it mean so much to me. I cannot risk this having a negative impact on them.”
Ricketts adds that he’s working with a lawyer to disprove false claims and restore his name.
The furore started when a Facebook post (which now appears to be hidden or deleted) by performer Raquey Strange. Kotaku reported on the original post, and, in the interest of not misreporting anything or implying anything extra, here’s the paragraph discussing it directly from the website:
"In a lengthy story about living with Ricketts in what they called “a cult environment,” Strange accused the YouTube personality of inviting Strange to his apartment for what Strange thought was a hangout but was actually a group sex encounter. “I started feeling really uneasy when he came up to me and fondled me,” Strange wrote. “I was upset and confronted him about consent. His reaction was that of, ‘oh fuck that. Don’t pull that shit on me. That’s not how this works. Not with me.’”
“As the sex began I didn’t know what to do,” Strange added. “At first I just lay there while four people were having sex around me until I started being touched and feeling as though I HAD to participate. I was completely coerced into the orgy.”
Several women added their voices to the post and Twitter, supporting Strange’s story or adding their own accusations, several of which included rape. One of these was April “AprilEff” Fletcher, a YouTuber, who added on Twitter that three women had previously came to her accusing Ricketts of rape had shown proof to her, and she’d since distanced herself from him.
Smosh Games is the gaming branch of popular YouTube collective Smosh. Smosh has 22m subscribers, in addition to a show on YouTube’s paid Red service. Smosh Games has 7m subscribers, and Ricketts has been a contributor since 2014.
