YouTube Star Tre Melvin Hospitalized Following Car Crash

YouTube star and online influencer Tré Melvin has been hospitalized after a car accident on Tuesday. The news was announced via Melvin’s Twitter account, which indicated he and his friend each suffered brain injuries.

“Early Monday morning, Tré was involved in a severe auto collision with his friend Kathereya,” the statement read, as noticed by E! Online. “Both are currently hospitalized and have suffered brain injuries. While Tré is stable, Kathy is unresponsive. Their families ask that you please send prayers, blessings, and positive vibrations their way. They will come out of this stronger and more powerful. So it is.”

The car accident comes just weeks after the 26-year-old had announced he’d be departing from the video platform after accusing YouTube of censoring him. “I will no longer allow the platform to censor my pain,” Melvin tweeted on May 29. “I will no longer allow the platform to demonetize my pain. I will no longer sit at a table both my Blackness and my queerness have never truly been welcome at. I will build my own.”

On May 30, Melvin wrote a more detailed sentiment on Instagram, which accompanied a video of him explaining his exodus from YouTube as civil rights protests had begun to take place in cities across the U.S. “White people, racism is not our problem. It’s yours,” he wrote in the caption. “My DMs are flooded with concerns about my YouTube channel. I’ve only addressed this via Twitter, but effective as of yesterday, my content is no longer streamable via YouTube. I will elaborate + make an official announcement (via YouTube) soon.” He also plugged his new platform, Tré Melvin TV, which he called his “newest child,” adding that “it is an ad-free, paid subscription service.”

The protests began at the end of May and were a response to the death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of his arresting officers on May 25. They’ve continued across the U.S. since, and have called for an end to police brutality, which is frequently used against Black people and other minorities. As the marches continued, there have been significant ripple effects, including funding reallocation for police forces, as well as a re-evaluation of various cultural institutions that can be traced directly back to racist roots.