Very sad news today out of the world of social media:
Grant Thompson, one of YouTube’s most well-known and popular content creator, died this week in a paragliding accident.
He was 38 years old.
Thompson, who creator and starred in videos on his YouTube account King of Random, passed away on Monday night, his family confirmed via a sad online statement yesterday.
“It is with great sadness to inform everyone that Grant Thompson passed away last night,” they wrote alongside a YouTube video tribute of the beloved internet star, adding very simply:
“Grant had great love and appreciation for his fans.”
“We invite you to share your thoughts for Grant and the channel in the comments,” his loved ones continued. “Please do a random act of love or kindness today in honor of The King of Random.”
And they concluded as follows:
Grant’s legacy will live on in the channel and the global community he created.
At the time of his passing, Thompson’s aforementioned YouTube channel had over 11.6 million subscribers.
According to TMZ, Buzzfeed and other outlets, authorities were alerted on Monday to a missing paraglider after the pilot was reported to have taken flight from the Dixie Springs subdivision near the state park in Washington.
Washington County Sheriff Lt. Dave Crouse then confirmed to these websites that the body he and his team recovered near Sand Hollow State Park had been identified as Thompson.
Local officials are continuing to investigate the incident and review video from the paragliding equipment to determine what caused the aircraft to crash.
It’s unclear at the moment just what prompted this tragic crash.
Thompson’s brother, Mark, told TMZ on Tuesday evening the that the YouTube personality had just recently picked up interest in paragliding and other airborne activities.
He also reiterated what we said above:
That the family was still learning what happened from investigators.
Thompson joined the YouTube community in January 2010 as “The King of Random."
It didn’t take him long to accumulate subscribers with original videos about “life hacks, experiments and random weekend projects.”
Thompson’s content — which came out nearly every day and covered everything from DIY projects to action-filled myth-busters — helped the 38-year old grow into one of the most-watched stars on the social platform with over 11 million subscribers — and over 2.4 billion views.
In the wake of this devastating news, YouTube issued a statement about the loss of their former user and expressed their condolences to Thompson’s family, content team and fans.
“We’re deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Grant Thompson, a gifted, passionate and endlessly curious creator. We send our deepest condolences to his loving family, The King of Random team and fans,” they tweeted alongside his family’s tribute video.
Added Matthew Patrick, creator of the Game Theorists YouTube channel, via a Tweet:
"He was passionate and fearless with videos that inspired millions of future scientists. You’re gone FAR too soon, but the HUGE positive impact you made will be felt for a long time."
May Grant Thompson rest in peace.
