On August 1, 2026, animator Max Gilardi, widely recognized as “hotdiggedydemon” on YouTube, disclosed that he had been contemplating assisted dying in Switzerland due to significant health and financial difficulties. Gilardi explained that he has been dealing with fibromyalgia since 2024, a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and cognitive challenges.
His situation led him to liken assisted euthanasia to a “root canal“:
“I know that euthanasia is a hot-button issue. I know that some people think that nobody should ever be euthanized ever, but for me, I’ve kind of grown to view it maybe as like as like getting a root canal.”
Discussing his condition, fibromyalgia, hotdiggedydemon used “brain damage” as an illustrative term, saying:
“Maybe ‘brain damage’ is too sensationalist because it might have some kind of super-specific definition I’m not familiar with. But suffice it to say, the two current theories are: my brain is sending a bad signal to my mouth and throat, or my mouth and throat are sending a bad signal to my brain. I don’t know.”
Addressing his financial issues, he remarked:
“I’m constantly, constantly just running out of the money that I do have. It’s embarrassing to have to admit that you have no money, but naturally, I did try to avoid ending up here. I used to work really hard. I can’t really afford to go to the doctor anymore. I’ve had a lot of outstanding medical bills.”
The livestream sparked concern among his followers, and on August 4, hotdiggedydemon seemed to reconsider his stance. Observing the worry from his audience, he expressed feelings of “guilt and shame” during a livestream:
“As I started to take note of how people were reacting, I noticed that they were really upset. And I started to feel guilt and shame – the kind of guilt you would feel if you had done something really wrong, morally and ethically.”
“Just kidding!”: hotdiggedydemon says his fans “snapped him back to reality”
Before his follow-up livestream on August 4, Max posted on X, indicating he was just joking:
“JEEEEZ you guys okay fine haha jk just kidding!! Nevermind!! Jk just kidding jk jk!!”
During his livestream, hotdiggedydemon discussed his uncertainty about how people would react to his thoughts on assisted euthanasia:
“I didn’t really know how people were going to react. I knew that was unpredictable, but I did have a hope. I thought, well, maybe people would be understanding if I really took the time to create a compelling and irrefutable argument for why this is happening…”
Reflecting on the response from social media, he stated:
“People have reacted in such an intense way that, in retrospect, it feels almost out of touch of me to think that I could try to treat this situation as not a big deal. You guys have sort of snapped me back to reality with that reaction. And now I think I’d better understand the size of the deal that I thought was not a big deal.”
He concluded his stream by mentioning he would return “next week” and apologized for “sounding like a victim”:
“Thanks to everyone who donated. Things are hard, but maybe someday they won’t be so hard. And I’m sorry for sounding like a victim and sounding like a sad sack, but thanks for listening. And goodbye. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry, everyone. Sorry.”
In other news, CORE Boys member Lacy has spoken out after undergoing knee reconstruction surgery following a recent injury.
Edited by Vishnu Menon
