Best known for his rants about nerd culture and video games, Boogie2988 is the social media alias of Steven Jason Williams who is currently a YouTube and Twitch streamer. He has been attacked for seemingly admitting to tax fraud on one of his streams. More so, he has received a lot of criticisms for quite a number of things including being called a racist.
However, despite being an embodiment of the stereotypes typically assigned to video game players, Boogie remains one of the most successful YouTubers today with millions of subscribers. He parodies trending video game news with his popular fictional character, Francis. Boogie2988 is also known for his fat-shaming and domestic abuse videos which recaptures the experience of his childhood.
His Early Life and Struggles With Low Self-esteem
Boogie2988 was born on the 24th of July 1974 in St. Paul, Virginia, where he grew up in a dysfunctional family made up of an abusive mother, Wanda Williams, and an absent father, Carl Williams. Boogie described his experience with his mother as the worst he has ever endured. Not only did she burn his body with a cigarette, but she also cut and stabbed him.
One of the days she physically abused him, he had to jump out of a moving car in an attempt to protect his eye from his mum’s attack. His family situation coupled with being overweight, caused by his poor eating habits, led to Boogie suffering from depression during his adolescent years. He was ashamed of his body that he desperately sought for several ways to get rid of himself.
Boogie’s sister named Karla ended up growing up in a foster care home while his older brother, Bryan, left home all thanks to their mother’s abusive nature. It was through the help of his brother that he was able to make good of his life as he taught him web designing which is the foundation of his success today.
YouTube Helped Boogie2988 Find a Purpose In Life
Williams’ life gradually took a turn for the better when the Virginia native discovered he could express himself through Web designing. Although he worked his way into becoming a very skilled web designer, he later lost concentration due to his low self-confidence.
The year 2006, however, marked a new dawn for Boogie as he was able to do something spectacular for himself that eventually changed his life for good. He created a YouTube channel for himself and named it Boogie2988. The channel was created in April 2006 and he posted his very first video game titled Playing Dungeons and Dragons. With the good reception the video received, Boogie continued to make and share more gaming videos and it saw to his rise to fame.
His online career received a major boost when the popular actor, comedian, and YouTube star Ray William Johnson gave him a shout out. Finding his place in the online business, Boogie2988 began to make more videos, expanding to cover topics like the nerd culture, domestic abuse, pop news, and fat-shaming. Added to his videos was his creation of a fictional character, Francis, a childish-adult with lisps.
As Boogie2988 received wide recognition, he got an invitation to post his video content on Twitch.tv which he does 3 to 5 times a week. He even collaborated with YouTuber and former Viner, McJuggerNuggets; they worked on a series titled The Devil Inside.
He Has Been Accused of Using His Mental Illness To Make Money
Boogie2988 has always been quite a controversial figure but things took a serious turn in October 2018. The YouTuber who received counseling services as well as sponsorship from BetterHelp was accused by the firm of using his mental illness to make money. Boogie denied the allegations and publicly terminated his association with the counseling firm.
Boogie’s career success is a product of his hard work and perseverance. Currently, he is not just among the most popular personalities online, but also a wealthy young man with an estimated net worth of $2.5 million.
Calculating his earnings from his video-sharing business, sources have it that he earns as much as $35.7K monthly and $428.2K annually from his YouTube channel.
The YouTuber Got Into More Trouble For Buying a Tesla Car
In June 2019, Boogie2988 took to his Twitter page to announce the purchase of a Tesla car. But then, he was seen in a live stream the next month soliciting funds to pay for the car in a sarcastic manner.
I legit just bought a tesla.
This is my first new car in my lifetime.
I am shaking baked so excited!!!!
— BOO!-gie2988 😭🤡 (@Boogie2988) June 27, 2019
He received a lot of backlash for it which made him reveal that he did not buy the car outrightly. According to him, he only paid a deposit and didn’t go ahead with the purchase as it caused an uproar among his fans.
What We Know About His Tax Evasion Scandal
Boogie2988 was yet in another controversial situation after he publicly admitted to tax evasion. According to the YouTuber, he was cutting back on his tax payments via a method that involves him buying the cards needed for his YouTube channel which he would write off as business expenses.
However, he would later sell the cards and exempt the money he earned from them when computing his total income for tax assessment, even if the money he made was above $400. This goes against the rule of the United State’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which holds that self-employed individuals should report any income above $400.
Controversy Surrounding His Clash With LGBT Activists
Towards the end of October 2018, Boogie2988 had a clash with LGBT activists. The fallout was instigated by the YouTuber’s support for the Gamergate movement. This made the LGBT activists believe he’s promoting sexual harassment and violence. Boogie was even expelled from the charity event of Dungeons and Dragons because of this allegation.
In early 2019, the YouTuber joked about being able to lead a group better than another player whom he said could not lead a team due to his parents’ divorce. This statement was made on a live stream session of Apex Legends and it earned him a lot of criticisms. Many people in the online community did not find it funny that he made derogatory remarks about the divorce of another player’s parents and openly shared their opinion online.
That’s not all, sometime in June 2019, Boogie left a comment on one of his follower’s post that made people call him a racist. The comment which read: “That’s a lot of money, I guess, for a person of color, or is it not?” was a response to one of his followers who donated $3 to him and captioned it “I am a black person”. Boogie2988 has insisted that he is not a racist, asserting that he never intended for his comment to cause a racial controversy.
Boogie2988 Was Once Married To Desiree Williams
Despite his hard times and the challenges caused by his weight, Boogie2988 had someone who loved and accepted him just the way he was and her name is Desiree Williams. She was his girlfriend for as long as 5 years before they became husband and wife in 2013.
Through Desiree, Boogie2988 found the love that he never experienced since his childhood. According to him, she was the love of his life as she showered him with so much care and affection that he was able to get rid of his personality problems.
However, not much has been revealed about Desiree’s personal life or what she does for a living. Nonetheless, we can tell she was born in 1975.
Here’s Why Their Union Fell Apart
All was rosy for the couple until the shocking news of their divorce became public in December 2017, a few months after Boogie had undergone a gastric bypass surgery because of his weight.
The internet sensation believes his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused the separation as he was still being haunted by the traumatic experiences of his early years, which had a bad effect on his marriage.
Although his union with Desiree was officially over on February 13th, 2018, the pair continued to be good friends. Boogie2988 seems to be focusing all of his energy into his career ever since the divorce as he has not dated anyone known to the public since then.
