Sweet Anita
| Sweet Anita | ||||||||||
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 Sweet Anita in 2022 | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | 28 July 1990 East Anglia, England | |||||||||
| Occupations | ||||||||||
| Twitch information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2018–present | |||||||||
| Genres |
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| Followers | 1.9 million[1] | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 1.55 million[2] | |||||||||
| Total views | 117 million[2] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 28 March 2024 | ||||||||||
Sweet Anita (born 28 July 1990)[3] is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber.
Early life
[edit]Anita was raised in East Anglia by a single mother before moving to South West England.[4]
She was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, including the rare symptom of coprolalia, at the age of 27.[5][6] She exhibited symptoms of the disorder throughout her teenage years and could only participate in formal education for a year because of her tics.[6][7] Anita attempted to get a medical diagnosis when she was 13 but the doctor did not take her symptoms seriously and said she would grow out of it, while dismissing her as attention-seeking. Over a decade later, she again attempted to get a diagnosis, this time at a hospital. After a week of tests, she was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome.[4][6]
Career
[edit]Anita began streaming on Twitch in 2018. Her early streams consisted of gaming content, primarily Overwatch.[8] She quickly gained popularity after clips of her profanity-laden outbursts, caused by her tics, went viral.[4][9] Later that year, Variety named Anita among the most influential people in video games.[10]
Anita was nominated in 2019 for her first major award at the 11th Shorty Awards for "Twitch Streamer of the Year".[11]
In mid-2019, Anita reported that she was experiencing long-term harassment and abuse from an unidentified stalker.[12][13] In a Twitter post, Anita criticised the police's handling of the situation, saying "If anything happens to me, I really hope that I'm the last canary in the coal mine. The law needs to change. No job should have such a high risk of rape, assault or death, especially not live streaming."[14][15][16] In September 2020, Anita released a YouTube video detailing her ordeal along with the experience of several other online personalities in regards to stalking, in order to spread awareness on the matter.[17]
Anita has worked with UK-based charity Tourettes Action, hosting fundraisers for the organisation on multiple occasions.[8]
In December 2020, Anita hosted VY Esports' online gaming festival LuudoFest![18]
Personal life
[edit]Outside of streaming, Anita is an animal rehabilitator and has cared for several animals including rabbits, rats, and chinchillas. She also ran her own business selling sea glass she collected from the seashore.[4] Anita has done several interviews regarding her condition in an effort to raise awareness and promote education on the effects of Tourette's syndrome, by citing examples such as its impact on daily social interactions.[6]
The streamer has been a victim of deepfake porn and online harassment. The incidents have raised concerns about the lack of legal protections and difficulty removing such content from the internet. Efforts are being made to advocate for federal legislation and raise awareness about the issue of revenge porn and its impact on victims.[19]
Anita is demisexual.[20][21]
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 11th Shorty Awards | Twitch Streamer of the Year | Nominated | [22] |
| 37th Golden Joystick Awards | Best Streamer/Broadcaster | Nominated | [23] |
References
[edit]- ^ "Sweet Anita - Real-Time Counter". StreamsCharts. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ a b "About Sweet Anita". YouTube.
- ^ Anita, Sweet [@sweetanita] (28 July 2022). "Hey! I turned 32 today which is pretty awesome. Also I just remembered when I was 22, before I had received a diagnosis for tourettes but I was still having tics, I walked up to a woman and said "aw, can I pet your dog?" She didn't have a dog. She was breast feeding" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d D'Anastasio, Cecilia (20 November 2018). "The Singular Life Of Twitch's Most Foul-Mouthed Streamer". Kotaku.
- ^ Katzowitz, Josh (25 October 2018). "Twitch user Sweet_Anita goes viral as she livestreams while dealing with Tourette's". The Daily Dot.
- ^ a b c d "Who Is Sweet Anita? What It's Like to Have Tourette's in a PC World". MEL Magazine. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ "Sweet Anita is one of Twitch's best streamers, and she does it with Tourette's Syndrome". Yahoo! News. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ a b Thompson, Dillon (12 November 2020). "Twitch star Sweet Anita opens up about Tourette's syndrome, charity and falling in love with gaming". In The Know.
- ^ Singletary Jr, Charles (21 November 2018). "Sweet_Anita streams her way to Twitch partner while publicly facing Tourette's". Shacknews. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Winkie, Luke (31 December 2018). "Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Sweet_ Anita - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com.
- ^ Adel Rubio, Minna (21 July 2020). "Sweet Anita fears for her life because of an obsessed stalker". Daily Esports. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (1 August 2020). "A Twitch streamer with 900,000 followers says she's being stalked by a man who is making death threats and ignoring a restraining order". Insider.
- ^ Bednall, Jai (15 July 2020). "Twitch streamer Sweet Anita terrified by stalker, chilling death threat". News.com.au.
- ^ Bailey, Fynn (23 July 2020). "Twitch Under Fire For Failing To Protect Streamer From Online Stalker". ScreenRant.
- ^ Sinclair, Brendan (8 October 2020). "Twitch staff call the company out on sexual assault, racism, more". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (18 September 2020). "Twitch streamers are sharing their stories of violent stalkers to spread awareness of how to seek help". Insider.
- ^ Toomer, Jessica (17 December 2020). "Sweet Anita On Why 2020 Was The Year Of The Twitch Streamer". Uproxx.
- ^ "The Aftermath Of Twitch's Deepfake Porn Scandal". kotaku.com. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Sweet Anita (29 May 2020). "The Truth About My Sexuality - Am I Demisexual?". YouTube. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Comedy Catacombs (12 November 2018). "Sweet Anita, the demi-sexual, prepares lamb, human flesh, biscuits and gravy and bitch lasagna for your last meal, bone apple tea!". iHeart. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Michelle Obama, Noah Centineo, Marie Kondo, John Mulaney Win 2019 Shorty Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. 5 May 2019.
- ^ Tyrer, Ben (11 October 2019). "Vote for your favourite new streamer / broadcaster in this new Golden Joystick Awards category". gamesradar.