A TikTok star has died by suicide just days after posting a final farewell video in which he outlined how he wanted to be remembered. Minnesota TikTok comedian Joe Muchlinski, who went by @VonViddy on the social media platform, reportedly committed suicide at the young age of 32 on Monday.
"I do want to confirm for his fans that he did lose his long battle with mental illness, and he did take his own life," his sister, Martha Muchlinski announced in the somber clip. "Joe fought a long and really terrible battle with his mental illness and all we can hope now is that he is at peace."
Succumbing to Mental Illness
His bereaved sibling added that her plan was to offer a sense of "closure" for those who were followers of @VonViddy and to inform everyone about the circumstances of the incident.
Just hours before news of his death broke, Von shared a final video on his TikTok account, where he had regularly posted comedic and musical content for his 170,000 followers.
In the video, captioned "It's all love," he described how he wanted to be remembered as a "creator of videos that made people laugh, and a creator of music."
"I also want to be remembered as a camp counselor who helped kids to make happy memories," added the social media star.
"I would rather not be remembered as an addict and an alcoholic who put his family through hell."
Joe expressed his gratitude for having such a devoted following and mentioned that his fans held immense importance to him.
"All in all, I've had a terrific life," the influencer declared. "I've got to visit the other side of the world, and I've made tons of friends from all walks of life."
He concluded the video by saying, "I have nothing to complain about, and I have nothing but peace and love for all of you."
Tragic Death
The TikTok sensation amassed a following of more than 170,000 followers and received around 8.7 million likes on the platform. He has been sharing his own music and comedic sketches on TikTok since the year 2020.
The exact cause of death still remains unclear.
Paying tribute to him, his sister Martha shared a number of photos from the 32-year-old web sensation's early years. Friends referred to him as an "audio wizard" with a "rare mind" after his death.
She said in a video posted to TikTok: "I want to confirm for his fans that he did lose his long battle with mental illness, and he did take his own life.
"TikTok meant a lot to him. It gave him joy. It gave him something to laugh at and to make other people laugh at.
"And he really appreciated that. Joe fought a really, really long, terrible battle with his mental illness.
"And all we can hope now is that he's at peace. But I did want to provide that closure for anybody who was a VonViddy fan, just to let you know what happened."
