Beloved YouTube personality Max Gilardi has left his audience in disbelief with his recent revelation about seeking euthanasia in Switzerland.

Hailing from Gloucester, Massachusetts, the 38-year-old revealed his decision on Sunday through a prerecorded message on his YouTube channel, hotdiggedydemon. The announcement has since sent waves through his devoted fanbase.

Addressing his 2.1 million subscribers, Gilardi shared that after an exhaustive exploration of all possible options, he has opted for “doctor-assisted euthanasia” as what he describes as his ‘final solution’.

Known for his animated content and gaming livestreams, Gilardi detailed his ongoing battle with a chronic illness that has been impacting his life and creative output for several years.

Diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a condition that causes widespread bodily pain, his health challenges have significantly hindered his ability to consistently produce new content since 2024.

‘I’m tired all the time,’ Gilardi said. ‘I spend a lot of my time lying down. I get a lot of bad pain in all my joints and my muscles, ankles, shins, hands, knees, hips, neck. I have a lot of difficulty sleeping.’

The creator added that he has also been dealing with a plethora of other health issues that doctors have been unable to diagnose, including a relentless drooling he dubbed ‘slobber mouth’, brain fog, and difficulty speaking. 

‘I would truly describe slobber mouth as maddening,’ he said. 

‘And as you can imagine, when you have slobber mouth and discognition (sic), and shortness of breath, and a scratchy throat that won’t stop producing mucus, and a tongue that feels numb and tingly, it makes streaming hard.’ 

He said the rising cost of his medical bills, including a $900 bill for an MRI which did not lead to a diagnosis or treatment, have compounded his despair. 

‘There’s nothing more expensive than living,’ Gilardi said, adding that he is ‘constantly running out of money’ and has ‘outstanding medical bills’. 

The creator said his decision to seek euthanasia came after more than a year of considering his options, and felt like a ‘natural conclusion’ to his life. 

‘My existence has become one where I suffer and barely scrape by so I can continue to sustain an existence where I barely scrape by and suffer,’ Gilardi said. 

He also gave a lengthy insight into the struggles of living with fibromyalgia, saying he felt like he had ‘brain damage’. 

‘Fibromyalgia could maybe be conceptualized as a sort of non-definitional form of brain damage, if there is such a thing as non-definitional brain damage,’ he said. 

‘There’s a part of your brain called the hypothalamus, and when it’s damaged and it breaks, that’s what causes fibro. It breaks and starts sending out kind of bad signals to the rest of your body.’ 

Gilardi added that he believes he may have developed the condition after contracting Covid-19. 

‘It can be caused by a concussive head injury or a bad viral infection, which, for me, was Covid,’ the creator explained. 

‘I got Covid in the winter of 2023, and then about a month… yeah, about a month and a half later, I got fibro, and I got slobber mouth.’ 

Gilardi’s fans were horrified, with many begging him not to seek euthanasia. 

Many told the creator they loved him and urged him to seek help, while some offered to donate money to cover his medical bills. 

The outpouring appeared to prompt Gilardi to change his mind, as he wrote on X hours later that he would ‘reassess’ his decision to travel to Switzerland. 

‘JEEEEZ you guys okay fine haha jk just kidding!! Nevermind!! Jk just kidding jk jk!!’ he wrote, before adding: ‘Decided I’m not thinking clearly, will reassess’. 

Euthanasia, which is administered by a doctor, is illegal in Switzerland, but assisted suicide, which involves the person who wants to die injecting themselves with a lethal substance, is allowed under certain circumstances. 

Switzerland’s most famous clinic, Dignitas, is based in Zurich and generally only offers euthanasia to those suffering from terminal illnesses.

The country is also home to Pegasos, which has more relaxed rules and offers assisted suicide to anyone suffering ‘a poor quality of life.’

Patients are generally euthanized by drinking a lethal cocktail of barbiturate drugs. 

Gilardi rose to internet fame with his web series called PONY.MOV, a a gorey adult parody of the animated TV series My Little Pony. 

He now runs a media analysis series known as Brain Dump, while streaming to fans on YouTube as hotdiggedydemon.  

A controversial series of events unfolded when a convicted killer, released on bond from a North Carolina jail, allegedly shot two men, resulting in one fatality just under two hours later. This rapid sequence has sparked intense scrutiny regarding the decision to release someone with a history of violence.

David Simpson, age 29, faces charges including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon intending to kill, and firearm possession by a felon. The incident occurred on July 29 at an apartment complex in east Charlotte. Following these charges, a Mecklenburg County judge ordered Simpson be held without bond.

According to court documents sourced by WCNC, Simpson was released from Mecklenburg County Jail at 12:20 a.m. after posting a $10,000 bond related to an earlier charge of possessing a weapon while incarcerated. Tragically, by 1:45 a.m., a shooting transpired leaving one victim dead and the other gravely injured.

Police investigations revealed that the shooting incident was the culmination of a heated argument over a parking space at the complex. Authorities had twice responded to prior disputes that evening involving confrontations over parking arrangements.

Surveillance video cited in the documents appears to show Simpson outside with his girlfriend when the victims’ SUV drove past. Detectives said Simpson went inside, returned carrying what they described as a weighted black bag, and ran toward the victims.

About 10 minutes later, two gunshots can be heard on the video. Roughly 30 seconds after that, Simpson is seen jogging back toward his apartment while handling the bag before driving away, investigators said. Officers recovered two spent 7.62-caliber rifle casings at the scene.

One victim died at the scene. The second made it inside an apartment before collapsing and later underwent surgery.

Court records show Simpson was previously charged with first-degree murder in a 2013 fatal shooting but pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2015, Queen City News reported. He served about five years in prison before being released on parole in 2020.

Since then, he has been arrested several more times, including on multiple charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, WBTV reported.

He also had pending charges this year for possession of a firearm by a felon, resisting a public officer and misdemeanor larceny, WCNC reported, citing court records.

Charlotte defense attorney Tim Cannady, who is not involved in the case, questioned why Simpson remained free despite his history.

“If you look at his history, it seems like this gentleman has picked up just about every year up to this point some kind of a violent crime,” Cannady told WCNC. “So you kind of have to ask the question: Why wasn’t he already in jail?”

Former Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari offered a similar criticism.

“We know what these top 1% of repeat offenders are going to do, and for some reason, we just don’t have the appetite to take action,” Bokhari told WBTV. “It feels like ‘Groundhog Day,’ to be quite honest.”

Simpson refused to leave his jail cell for his first scheduled court appearance Friday morning, delaying the hearing until a judge ordered him to appear later that afternoon.

His girlfriend, Shakema Scott, has also been charged with accessory after the fact.

Simpson is due back in court on Aug. 21.

When U.S. Soccer officials hinted at bringing Mauricio Pochettino back for another term, it wasn’t simply empty talk.

Despite the USMNT’s disappointing 4-1 loss to Belgium that marked the end of their World Cup journey, opinions within the organization remained unchanged.

On Monday morning, the federation confirmed Pochettino’s continuation as head coach until the 2030 World Cup. This decision gained traction after initial speculation suggested a possible split following the team’s bitter World Cup conclusion.

Typically, national team coaches serve only one cycle, and Pochettino had previously expressed a desire to return to club coaching, especially in England’s Premier League. Perhaps the nation’s support reignited his passion, or maybe the feeling of unfinished business compelled him to stay.

Additionally, the current coaching market played a role; with top positions like AC Milan — which linked Pochettino in May before appointing Ruben Amorim — already filled, his options were limited.

Given the manner of the USMNT’s loss to Belgium, the decision to bring the 54-year-old Pochettino back will likely be controversial. Though he seemed to push all the right buttons until the Round of 16, his team didn’t show up ready to play in what was, without a doubt, the biggest game the USMNT has had in decades, if not ever.

A full cycle that includes a likely Copa America — which the US would play in 2028 should it host, as is presumed — as well as a home Olympics and World Cup qualifying after it qualified automatically for this one will be a chance for Pochettino to grow the cultural seeds he planted over the last 18 months.

It doesn’t mean the work is over for the federation’s brass, led by CEO J.T. Batson.

There is also the matter of replacing sporting director Matt Crocker, who departed for the same job at Saudi Arabia’s federation prior to the World Cup.

Batson said in May that he did not expect to hire a “like for like sporting director going forward,” and a new structure would instead be put in place.