Ethan Ralph

[[File:Ethan Ralph - Fall 2020.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Ralph in 2020; this is before the drug abuse ''really'' hit hard]]
{{alt-right}}
'''Ethan Oliver Ralph''' {{lived|September 20, 1985}}<ref name=":7">{{Cite news|last=Moyer|first=Justin William|author-link=|date=September 9, 2016|title=Gamergate activist charged with assault on officers, public intoxication in Virginia|language=en-US|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/gamergate-activist-charged-with-assault-on-officers-public-intoxication-in-virginia/2016/09/09/2751f216-76ac-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2021|issn=0190-8286|quote="If you want to call me alt-right, that's probably fair," Ralph said.}}</ref> is an [[alt-right]]<ref name=":7" /> [[American]] podcaster, self-proclaimed "gonzo journalist", and convicted revenge pornographer who started his [[troll]] career during the [[Gamergate|Gamergate harassment campaign]].<ref name="Gilbert">{{Cite web|last=Gilbert|first=Ben|date=September 7, 2016|title=A prominent leader of Gamergate was just arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ethan-ralph-gamergate-leader-arrested-2016-9|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref><ref name="Florentine">{{Cite web|last=Florentine|first=Sharon|date=September 15, 2016|title=Gamergate leader's arrest doesn't signal change|url=https://www.cio.com/article/3120724/gamergate-leader-s-arrest-doesn-t-signal-change.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=[[CIO magazine|CIO]]|language=en}}</ref> He [[doxed]] and harassed game developer {{wpl|Brianna Wu}} via his [[webshite]], '''''The Ralph Retort'''''.<ref name="dailydot.com">{{Cite web|last=Wu|first=Brianna|date=September 7, 2016|title=Gamergate Leader Arrested on Two Felony Counts of Assaulting a Police Officer|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/gamergate-ethan-ralph-arrested/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=[[The Daily Dot]]|language=en-US}}</ref> His primary platform is his podcast, the '''Killstream''' (stylized '''#Killstream'''),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Nguyen|first=Tina|date=November 11, 2020|title=MAGA nation tries to rally around Trump with MAGApalooza|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/11/maga-rally-washington-dc-435958|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=[[Politico]]|language=en}}</ref> where he spends most of his time shitfaced on Maker's Mark and hollering at his "haters" (read: pretty much everyone who isn't a [[Alt-right glossary#Groyper|groyper]]). His tendency to pick fights with anyone led him to be considered a laughing stock of the internet, including by other alt-right sources such as [[Kiwifarms]].

Ralph has been banned from services including [[YouTube]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Koh|first=Yoree|date=November 3, 2018|title=Hate Speech on Live 'Super Chats' Tests YouTube|language=en-US|work=[[Wall Street Journal]]|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hate-speech-on-live-super-chats-tests-youtube-1541205849|access-date=January 1, 2021|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> where he formerly hosted his show. As of 2021, the Killstream was hosted on Trovo Live, after receiving a month-long suspension from the {{wpl|alt-tech}} streaming service DLive earlier in January.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Gais|first=Hannah|last2=Hayden|first2=Michael Edison|date=November 17, 2020|title=Extremists Are Cashing in on a Youth-Targeted Gaming Website|language=en|work=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/11/17/extremists-are-cashing-youth-targeted-gaming-website|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ethan Ralph">{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/1349242150152777731|title=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!|author=Ethan Ralph|date=January 13, 2021|access-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119164038/https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1349242150152777731|archive-date=January 19, 2021}}</ref> The show is also published on [[Apple]] Podcasts.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=#Killstream on Apple Podcasts|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/killstream/id1128890743|access-date=2021-05-13|website=Apple Podcasts|language=en-GB}}</ref>

On January 5th, 2022, Ralph pled ''nolo contendere'' (no contest), thus accepting conviction without admitting guilt to disseminating revenge porn of his former girlfriend with whom he has a son and received a suspended sentence of 12 months as long as he maintains "good behaviour".<ref name="sexoffender">{{Cite web |last=Doerer |first=Kristen |date=January 24, 2022 |title=Far-Right Podcaster Ethan Ralph Convicted of Revenge Porn |url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/far-right-podcaster-ethan-ralph-convicted-of-revenge-porn/ |access-date=March 26, 2022 |website=[[Right Wing Watch]]}}</ref>

== Controversies ==
Ralph is known for having the preternatural ability to get himself mired in controversy after controversy thanks to a mixture of [[drug]] abuse and [[Personality_disorder#Narcissistic_Personality_Disorder|narcissism]]. He was an early and obsequious personality in the [[Gamergate]] controversy, spewing lots of hate and [[bullshit]] into cyberspace. During the peak of the Gamergate shitstorm, he [[doxed]] and harassed game developer Brianna Wu,<ref name="dailydot.com"/> but eventually the Gamergate crowd got tired of his ego and turned against him.<ref>[https://np.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/42e643/opinionmessage_to_ethan_ralph_stop_becoming_leigh/ [Opinion]Message to Ethan Ralph: Stop Becoming Leigh Alexander 2.0 While You Have A Chance]. Reddit, 2016.</ref> After his 2016 arrest, he was proclaimed as a "prominent leader" of the Gamergate movement by media organizations that should have known better.<ref name="Gilbert"/><ref name="Florentine"/> Ralph was never a leader of the reactionary [[Twitter]]verse or any other [[Manufactroversy|manufactured movement]]; he is merely a sad and rumpled grifter whose life ambition appears to be getting paid to be a [[troll]].{{nofact}}

=== #Healstream ===
In 2018, Ralph accepted multiple donations via YouTube's Super Chats feature<ref name=KSNOTE group=note>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.</ref><ref name=CNET/> 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 [[Holocaust denial|denying the Holocaust]] or celebrating the [[Pittsburgh synagogue shooting]] only days after it happened.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alexander|first=Julia|date=November 5, 2019|title=YouTube live streams get even more Twitch-like with Super Stickers launch|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/5/20949437/youtube-live-streams-super-stickers-chat-cartoons-twitch-revenue|access-date=January 1, 2021|work=The Verge|language=en}}</ref> St. Jude's refused the donations from Ralph's fans, refunding all the donations from YouTube that came via the Killstream channel.<ref name=":2" /> After a report<ref name=":2"/> in the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' on the incident, YouTube terminated Ralph's account on November 3, 2018.<ref name=CNET />

=== Bitcoin donations ===
[[Bitcoin]] payments totaling [[wikt:₿|₿]]28.15 (then worth US$522,000)<ref name=Chainalysis>{{cite web|title=Alt-Right Groups and Personalities Involved In the January 2021 Capitol Riot Received Over $500K In Bitcoin From French Donor One Month Prior|url=https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/capitol-riot-bitcoin-donation-alt-right-domestic-extremism/|date=January 14, 2021|access-date=April 12, 2022|work=[[Chainalysis]]}}</ref> 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 [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot|storming of the U.S. Capitol]] in January 2021. From this total, Ralph received a donation of approximately 0.5[[Bitcoin|BTC]], then worth US$9,595.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|author=Reuters Staff|date=2021-01-14|title=Large bitcoin payment made to far-right individuals before U.S. Capitol attack: report|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-cryptocurrency-idUSKBN29J2PM|access-date=2021-05-13}}</ref><ref name=Chainalysis/> [[VDARE]], the [[Daily Stormer]], and [[Nick Fuentes]] were among the crypto donation recipients. Ethan Ralph is also on the list that Chainalysis published regarding the half a million dollar donations.<ref>Jenna McLaughlin, [https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-large-bitcoin-payments-to-rightwing-activists-a-month-before-capitol-riot-linked-to-foreign-account-181954668.html Exclusive: Large bitcoin payments to right-wing activists a month before Capitol riot linked to foreign account]. Yahoo News, 14 January 2021.</ref>

=== Revenge porn conviction ===
On August 11<sup>th</sup>, 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 at the victim's request by August.<ref name="sexoffender"/>

On January 5<sup>th</sup>, 2022, Ralph pleaded ''nolo contendere'' (no contest) to disseminating revenge porn and was subsequently found guilty, receiving a suspended sentence of 12 months.<ref name="sexoffender" /> The woman he distributed revenge porn of is also the mother of his child,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doerer |first=Kristen |date=2021-02-11 |title=Far-Right Podcaster Accused of Revenge Porn Rejoices in Suspension of Case Against Him |url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/far-right-podcaster-accused-of-posting-revenge-porn-has-case-dismissed/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |work=Right Wing Watch |language=en-US}}</ref> and has a restraining order against Ralph, on her own behalf and on her infant son's behalf.<ref name="sexoffender" />

On July 24<sup>th</sup> 2022, Ralph called his ex-girlfriend via Skype, a likely violation of her order restraining him from contacting her.

Ralph claims that his finger "slipped" while he was finding evidence to use against "this lying woman" whom he totally doesn't wish to contact.<ref name=slippinralphy>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort/status/1551265982378921987|last=Ralph|first=Ethan|title=I have no desire to contact this lying woman and haven't tried in over a year. Me going through my Skype messages to find the part where you wanted to have her own son aborted is what led me to accidentally press call and now they're trying to trumpet that.|date=2022-07-04|work=Twitter|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Career ==

Ralph hosts a podcast called the Killstream.<ref name=":1" /> Among the Killstream's guests have been [[Red Ice Creations]] co-founder Henrik Palmgren<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Gais|first=Hannah|date=October 23, 2019|title=YouTube Yanks Second Red Ice Channel|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/23/youtube-yanks-second-red-ice-channel|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}}</ref> and [[Lana Lokteff]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Holt|first=Jared|last2=|first2=|date=August 21, 2018|title='Alt-Right' Radio Host: Alex Jones Is A 'Gateway Drug' To 'Our Side'|url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/alt-right-radio-host-alex-jones-is-a-gateway-drug-to-our-side/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Right Wing Watch|language=en-US}}</ref> According to ''Washingtonian'', the Killstream "frequently shares [[extremist]] [[propaganda]]".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Beaujon|first=Andrew|date=November 12, 2021|title=There's a Very Real Potential for Violence at Saturday's MAGA Events in DC, Say Extremism-Watchers|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/11/12/saturdays-pro-trump-events-in-dc-have-a-very-real-potential-to-turn-violent-according-to-experts-who-track-extremism/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 19, 2021|website=Washingtonian|language=en-US}}</ref>

Ralph's political views are alt-right,<ref name=":7" /> and ''Politico'' has described Ralph as a "[[white supremacist]]-sympathetic livestreamer".<ref name=":1" /> According to the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], Ralph has "featured numerous prominent white nationalists" on the Killstream.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Extremists Are Cashing in on a Youth-Targeted Gaming Website|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/11/17/extremists-are-cashing-youth-targeted-gaming-website|access-date=2021-05-13|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}}</ref> 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".<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Kharif|first=Olga|last2=Mehrotra|first2=Kartikay|date=2021-01-19|title=Far Right Groups Get Bitcoin Windfall Weeks Before Capitol Riot|language=en|work=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-19/far-right-groups-get-bitcoin-windfall-weeks-before-capitol-riot|url-status=live|access-date=2021-01-25}}</ref>

Originally hosted on YouTube, the show was distributed on the alt-tech platform DLive after YouTube banned the account in November 2018.<ref name="CNET">{{Cite web|date=November 3, 2018|title=YouTube's Super Chat hijacked for hate speech|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/youtubes-super-chat-hijacked-for-hate-speech/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=January 1, 2021|work=CNET|language=en}}</ref> In January 2021, DLive suspended Ralph's account for a month and Ralph began broadcasting on Trovo Live.<ref name="Ethan Ralph" /> The show is also published on Apple Podcasts.<ref name=":8" />

In the period of April–October 2020, the Killstream earned Ralph US$24,346 on DLive.<ref name=":3" /> Yes, despite being {{Years or months ago|1985|09|word=old}}, Ralph's main income source is saying the [[N-word]] online repeatedly to an audience of groypers.

==External links==
* [https://twitter.com/TheRalphRetort The Ralph Retort on Twitter]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralph, Ethan}}
[[Category:Alt-right]]
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[[Category:Great Replacement conspiracy theorists]]
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Categories: Alt-right, Bloggers, Criminals, Living people, Racists, Podcasts, White supremacists, YouTube, Fascists, Neo-Nazis, Great Replacement conspiracy theorists, Antisemites