Tragic Details About CoryxKenshin
Cory Devante Williams, a.k.a. CoryxKenshin, has spent over a decade building a brand based on entertaining gameplay videos (with a particular focus on horror games), comedic skits, and general positivity. His friendly demeanor and self-effacing (yet wholesome) sense of humor has garnered him a huge following on YouTube, and he's built an excellent rapport with his fan community, whom he affectionately calls his Samurai. However, it hasn't always been an easy road for CoryxKenshin.
Millions of dedicated subscribers tune into each of his videos, even if they're not posted quite as regularly as they once were. Despite a number of hiatuses here and there, CoryxKenshin's fan base has stayed strong, cheering him on from his humble beginnings as a vlogger to his cameo in 2023's "Five Nights At Freddy's" film adaptation. All along the way, the YouTuber has not only kept his head held high, but has always been openly grateful for fan support, particularly during some of the more difficult areas of his life.
CoryxKenshin was bullied as a kid over a rare disorder
In 2017, CoryxKenshin revealed to his audience that he has ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder which only afflicts roughly .00001% of the world's population. Because of this, he cannot grow hair on his legs or arms, and he only has 24 teeth (rather than 32), which grew in with gaps between them. Cory's ectodermal dysplasia made him feel very insecure about his appearance during his school schools, and he even found himself on the receiving end of bullying. He explained that it got so bad that he came home crying at one point in the sixth grade.
However, thanks to the growth of his YouTube channel, CoryxKenshin was able to pay for a retainer to cover the gaps in his smile, which made him feel so much happier and more confident. Because of this, he wanted to share his journey with his audience. The response to the video was overwhelmingly positive, with many fans thanking him for having such a kind heart and making them feel less alone in their own personal struggles.
CoryxKenshin's merch was ripped off and sold by a scammer
CoryxKenshin demonstrated how much his brand image and his fan base mean to him when he threatened to sue a t-shirt company selling bootleg CoryxKenshin merch. In July 2020, the YouTuber called out TeeChip for allowing a seller to create a "CoryxKenshin Store" advertising several designs that were previously exclusive to Cory's official shop. He urged TeeChip to ban the seller and refund anyone who had purchased merch from the shop.
This is a message to my people. DO NOT BUY MERCH UNLESS ITS FROM https://t.co/onkdugGWdx
STAY AWAY from @TeeChipOfficial, SCAMMERS selling FAKE CoryxKenshin merch. I'll be taking legal action against you TeeChip unless you refund my people and remove your CoryxKenshin campaigns.
— Cory. (@CoryxKenshin) July 19, 2020
The next day, he posted a heated video in which he demonstrated that Google searches for his merchandise brought up the scammer's page first. CoryxKenshin also pulled up several reviews from angry customers, who reported being overcharged and stiffed on the merchandise they'd ordered. Furious that his and others' hard work was being used to exploit younger fans who may not know any better, he again insisted that TeeChip remove the page from its site.
TeeChip apologized via Twitter and the dupe CoryxKenshin shop no longer has any items listed for sale. However, it remains unclear if anyone ever got the refunds Cory had hoped for.
CoryxKenshin battled with depression and anxiety in 2020
Cory has discussed matters of mental health on more than one occasion with his viewers, uploading vlogs to not only get his feelings out there, but to also let people know that it's natural to feel certain things. In a few instances, he's also used these videos to announce a planned break from producing content. That way, his followers don't have to worry about where he might have gone.
In one such video, CoryxKenshin recapped the traumatic events of 2020, beginning with the devastating Australian wildfires and continuing through the murder of George Floyd and the outbreak of COVID-19. Through it all, Cory explained, it was extremely difficult for him to maintain his usual sense of positivity. He found the daily grind of maintaining his YouTube channel wasn't as much fun as it had been in the past, and he began to feel stressed out by the whole endeavor as a result. Instead of giving up, however, he encouraged fans to find something that brings them joy and to keep their heads up.
CoryxKenshin stepped away from YouTube for a few weeks after uploading this video, but his fans were ready and waiting when he came back.
CoryxKenshin felt targeted by YouTube
In the past, CoryxKenshin has called YouTube out for striking his videos without much in the way of communication. This has been an ongoing issue shared by other content creators on the platform: YouTube rarely explains the exact reasons for strikes against particular channels. However, it wasn't until one of Cory's videos was slapped with an age restriction that he finally had enough.
As he explained in a lengthy video, he felt YouTube was treating him unfairly, and might even be punishing him as a sign of favoritism towards other established channels. His reasoning for this is that his gameplay video of "The Mortuary Assistant" was restricted to mature audiences only, but Markiplier's video of the same game was not, and neither were videos of the game on other channels. When this was brought to YouTube's attention, the platform lifted the age restriction — only to restrict it again shortly thereafter, along with Markiplier's video.
"Why is my channel so much more heavily scrutinized than my peers?" he asked. He expressed a concern that the strikes against his channel were racially motivated, but said he didn't want that feeling to define his channel. Ultimately, he did argue that other channels were regularly propped up by YouTube, whereas his seemed to get knocked down a peg every time he started to gain momentum.
Not long after posting this video, he pinned a comment to the page saying, "This video was immediately flagged for 'Ad suitability.' I wonder why. Surely it isn't because it's YouTube being shown in a poor light? Surely not."
Google thought CoryxKenshin died July 16, 2023 (he didn't)
Video killed the radio star, and Google killed the YouTube star?
After taking a break from uploading to manage his own mental health, Cory became the target of several fake news stories — many of which appear to have originated on TikTok. In early 2023, a few videos began circulating on the popular social media site claiming that Cory was deceased (like this one, for example). The hoax posts attributed his supposed death to a variety of causes including brain aneurysm and even murder. One obviously parodic example takes the form of a local "news" broadcast, complete with stock footage of urban streets and an ominous voice over. The satirical nature of the video didn't stop followers from buying it, however, as evidenced by the comments.
The hoax itself never really took root in the popular imagination at the time, though one major website does appear to have bitten — search giant Google. Due to some quirk of the algorithm, Google started returning a death date of July 16, 2023 for CoryxKenshin on or around that same date. As of July 25, the false result was still showing up at at the top of results pages for searches "CoryxKenshin" and "CoryxKenshin death."
As of this writing, CoryxKenshin is alive and well.