PC Siqueira
Paulo Cezar Goulart Siqueira (18 April 1986 – 28 December 2023), better known by his nickname PC Siqueira or simply as PC, was a Brazilian Internet and television personality. From 2010, he made a name for himself by vlogging on YouTube, earning him millions of subscribers, collabs with other famous YouTubers, and even television contracts. His career seemed to be going pretty well until June 2020, when private conversations where he admits his attraction for a six-year-old girl were leaked.[1] Alone and deeply depressed, he decided to end his own life in December 2023, aged 37.[2]
Biography
A victim of bullying in his childhood due to his strabismus, PC was homeschooled and began working as a comic drawer and colorist at the age of 15. He confessed that he suffered from depression, anxiety, and panic disorder. At age 23 in February 2010, he created his famous vlogging channel maspoxavida, which would last for a decade. In his videos, he approached contentious subjects such as politics and religion in a light-hearted and often comedic tone. He drew some controversy for being an outspoken atheist and often making comments on religion that were perceived as offensive or blasphemous. However, no controversy would be worse for him than what would come later.
PC began appearing on television as early as March 2011, when he premiered as the host of the variety show PC na TV on MTV Brazil, where he discussed mainly technology and video games. Before MTV Brazil ended in 2013, he hosted other similar shows in the channel. He continued with his YouTube career while still occasionally appearing on several television channels.
In June 2016, PC announced that he would be making a surgery to correct his strabismus, which he in fact did. Around this time, he also began to comment more on politics, with his opinions being more oriented towards the left, supporting left-wing politicians such as the then-president Dilma Rousseff and attacking well-known right-wing ones such as Jair Bolsonaro. Around that time he also became known as a "cuck" when his red-haired girlfriend Karol cheated on him.
In February 2017, he starred in the movie Internet: O Filme ("Internet: the Movie"), which featured several famous YouTubers from Brazil.
The case
On 10 June 2020, an anonymous Twitter account[3] posted a video of a private Instagram conversation where PC shows an unidentified friend a nude photo depicting the buttocks of a six-year-old girl, sent to him by the girl's mother during a "face time" (the photo itself, which had already been deleted, does not appear in the video, which only shows PC telling his friend to quickly erase it from the conversation, as it was before the feature of self-destructing photos existed).[4] In the following day, PC claimed on his Instagram that the video was faked and part of a plot to taint his image.[5] Hours later, however, journalist Erlan Bastos published audios where PC admits that he "has traces" of pedophilia and that he in fact felt aroused upon seeing the photograph.[6] Hours after that new revelation, PC deleted the post where he claims to be innocent and made his account private.
After the incident caused a severe backlash, PC lost many subscribers, and fellow YouTubers who were close to him such as Cauê Moura, Rafinha Bastos and even Felipe Neto, the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Brazil, cut professional and personal relations with PC. A few days later, he deactivated his ten-year-old channel. At the time, PC was devastated and considered suicide.
PC's electronics were eventually apprehended, several months after the public backlash (a time frame that was the target of some criticism), and police found no evidence of child pornography or child sexual abuse in them, so no criminal charges were pressed against the YouTuber.[7][8]
Even though the incident left his career in ruins, PC returned to social media after a hiatus.
Suicide
Police found PC Siqueira dead in his apartment in São Paulo on 27 December 2023, at age 37, and concluded that he had committed suicide. He had been suffering from depression.[2]
External links
References
- ↑ PC Siqueira é acusado de pedofilia após vazamento de mensagens atribuídas a ele; youtuber nega: 'Jamais cometi'. 11 June 2020. extra.globo.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Morre o apresentador e youtuber PC Siqueira aos 37 anos. UOL. 27 December 2023.
- ↑ The same account that had previously exposed the musician Japinha from the CPM 22 band.
- ↑ PC Siqueira é acusado de pedofilia por compartilhar foto de crianças nuas. Metrópoles. 11 June 2020.
- ↑ PC Siqueira é acusado de pedofilia após vazamento de mensagens atribuídas a ele; youtuber nega: 'Jamais cometi'. extra.globo.com. 11 June 2020.
- ↑ Após acusações de pedofilia, PC Siqueira perde selo de autenticidade no Instagram; veja. Portal T5. 21 June 2020.
- ↑ Perícia policial não encontra provas de pedofilia contra PC Siqueira. UOL. 24 February 2021.
- ↑ https://noticiasdatv.uol.com.br/noticia/celebridades/apos-pericia-policia-nao-encontra-provas-para-incriminar-pc-siqueira-por-pedofilia-51943 Após perícia, polícia não encontra provas para incriminar PC Siqueira por pedofilia]. Estado de S. Paulo. 24 February 2021