Ethan Keiser vs. Witchtok

About

Ethan Keiser vs. Witchtok is an internet conflict between TikToker Ethan Keiser (@itsethankeiser) and a community of creators on TikTok who practice witchcraft, known as "Witchtok." Keiser is an influencer, tech blogger and self-professed comedian who makes videos about coding to solve various problems, among other content. Witchtok has garnered attention in recent years for trying to Hex The Moon and also trying to hex the Taliban. The conflict between the two began when Ethan issued a challenge to Witchtok and asked for someone to hex him.

Origin

In February 2021, TikToker^[1] @itsethankeiser posted a video saying that he was going to start a series where he tried to get "possessed" for 30 days in an attempt to prove that demons and spirits are not real. The series never took off, although the creator has some comments mentioning him conducting rituals on TikTok live. The upload received 6.3 million plays and 800,000 likes in over a year (seen below).

On July 20th, 2022, Keiser uploaded a video^[2] replying to a comment asking him why he stopped the possession series, to which he replied by recounting the various rituals and haunted locations he visited on TikTok live. He also mentioned issuing a challenge to "Witchtok," where he offered to send his shirt, nails, blood, or whatever they might need to hex him on TikTok live, but no one taking him up on his challenge. This upload gathered 700,000 plays and 80,000 likes in over a month (seen below).

Spread

On July 22nd, 2022, Ethan Keiser reacted^[3] to a now-deleted video from TikToker @hausofemrys saying that he consents to an offer from a Bruja witch to curse him and that he sent over a shirt, some nail clippings and a lock of his hair to their shipping address. The upload gathered over a million plays and approximately 180,000 likes in over a month (see below, left).

The witch in question then uploaded a video^[4] confirming the same on July 22nd as well, adding that they required a verbal statement of Keiser consenting to be hexed for legal reasons. The upload gathered 30,000 plays and approximately 2,000 likes in over a month (see below, right).

On July 30th, @hausofemrys^[5] confirmed that Keiser sent her the required materials for the hex after she documented him purportedly stalling on the shipment for a week. The materials included a photo of himself, a T-shirt, some of his nail clippings and a lock of his hair, in addition to information about his birth date and time. She also spoke about how she got Keiser to agree to conduct "baneful workings" on him, so as to "use him as a juicy battery." The upload gathered about 30,000 plays and 1,800 likes in nearly a month (seen below, left).

Keiser^[6] confirmed the same in an upload on August 1st, showing him at the FedEx office where an employee warned him against his actions (seen below, right).

Keiser went on to create a series of videos capitalizing on his newfound Witchtok-aided fame, making a joke about playing dead on TikTok live, making a formal form for witches to submit their hexes to him, and defending himself against accusations that questioning magic is "racist."

On August 7th, 2022, @hausofemrys^[7] began their ritual and posted the process in several parts. The first video in the series received approximately 30,000 plays and 3,000 likes (seen below, left). On August 13th, the user also subsequently posted^[8] proof that their spells worked, including image results from an AI-art generator (seen below, right). The upload gathered 1,000 likes and 20,000 plays in three weeks.

By mid-August, more members of Witchtok began chiming into the debate surrounding the hexing of Ethan Keiser, with some users saying that his unwillingness to have a genuine dialogue is "wasting and draining" witches' powers, and others saying that the hex will skip him and land on his children and their children.

These statements were then reposted by Keiser^[9] in an upload on August 19th, gathering over 1 million plays and nearly 200,000 likes in 10 days (seen below, left). Other creators came to the conclusion that the reason Keiser remains unaffected is that he is a Freemason, i.e., a wizard. The claim was lodged by @lilliathelegend^[10] on August 26th in an upload that gathered 23,000 plays and over 3,000 likes in roughly one week (seen below, right).

On August 20, Ethan Keiser vs. Witchtok gained mainstream attention with TikToker^[11] @thewannabefilmmaker joking about how he's been casting protection spells this whole time (seen below). This upload gathered over 1 million views and over 300,000 likes in roughly two weeks.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References