Yousef Saleh Erakat, better known by his stage name FouseyTube, is an American YouTube personality and actor, of Palestinian descent, who produces parodies, vlogs, comedy sketches and pranks on YouTube.
Early life
Yousef Erakat was born on January 22, 1990 in Fremont, California. His parents are of Palestinian origin. He has three older siblings, Mohammad, Ahmad, and Noura Erakat, who is a legal scholar. Erakat attended San Jose State University and majored in theatre arts. He moved to Los Angeles after graduating to pursue his acting career.
YouTube career
Erakat has had multiple YouTube channels in the past, namely ones relating to fitness. It wasn't until he started making Middle Eastern videos that his popularity grew. His past channels included him following a workout routine, P90X, and giving a review and before and after of his journey. In 2012, Erakat was listed 3rd on the list of "40 Inspiring Muslims Under 40" by MBMuslima Magazine. On January 1, 2015, Erakat released his first single "Prideland" under the stage name "fousey". A music video for the song was released the same day on his daily vlog channel DOSEofFOUSEY. Erakat was invited by Quest Nutrition to unveil their newest protein bar flavor by allowing him to prank other popular YouTube personalities, namely by pieing them in the face. The video has reached over a million views. On October 3, 2015, Erakat showcased his BMW 435i with a full transformation. Inspired by his Nike shoe composed of his favorite colors, he took his car to West Coast Customs in hopes of drastically changing his car to represent not only his favorite colors, but his YouTube audience as well, of which he calls the "bruh bruhs". Erakat enjoyed the turnout and showcased it on both his daily vlog channel as well as his main channel fouseyTUBE. On October 6, 2015, it was announced that Erakat had signed with Creative Artists Agency, a popular agency located in Century City, Los Angeles. Erakat embarked on a five-day tour with friend and YouTube star Roman Atwood called the "Roman vs Fousey Tour" on February 24, 2016. They performed in five states along the west coast as a preview/test for their upcoming 30-day tour of the same name. On June 3, 2017, Erakat officially reached the YouTube milestone of 10 million subscribers, thus earning him a YouTube Diamond Play Button. On August 31, 2018, Erakat retracted all of his material from his social media accounts. On September 15, 2018, a video was uploaded to the FouseyTube channel stating that he has opened his YouTube channel up, allowing low-profile content creators to publish content as moderated by a team made up of his friends. According to a statement made by Erakat, he said that he thinks that opening his channel upon his website is the best way of giving back to his fans. This was later shut down in mid-October, likely due to the GoFousey's unpopularity among his fans, as Erakat's channel lost over 60,000 subscribers during September. On February 26, 2019, Erakat posted a video on the FouseyTube channel, acknowledging his responsibility for the channel's decline and his fear and reluctance to resume vlogging on the channel. He added that he will continue vlogging as well as trying to pursue an acting career.
Personal life
Erakat was brought up in a religious Muslim family, but has repeatedly struggled with his own religious identity. He has on several occasions criticized negative stereotyping of Muslims. On July 1, 2014, Erakat uploaded a video to his vlog channel titled "WHY I WANTED TO END MY LIFE". In this video, Erakat discussed how he passed by a tattoo parlor and got a tattoo on a whim, followed by another. He later had a nervous breakdown due to the stigma in some Arab and Muslim families concerning tattoos and had them removed. Erakat struggles with ongoing depression, addiction and bipolar disorder. He mentions it frequently in his daily vlogging, and also announced it on VH1. He was nominated for Pranks and Show of The Year at the 5th Streamy Awards, and on September 18, 2015, won the Show of The Year award. Erakat started dating fellow YouTuber Simmi Singh in July 2018.
