RANGESH Mutama, also known as Neon, has been recently trending online following his Dubai arrest. Unfounded rumours spread that the controversial streamer died while in custody in the UAE.
N3ON, pronounced Neon, is an internet personality and live streamer from the platform called Kick. He was born into a Pakistani family in Houston, Texas on August 13 2004. He is famous for creating content playing Fortnite and NBA 2K. Neon has accumulated over 478,000 subscribers on YouTube, 154,000 followers on Twitch and over 26,000 fans on Kick.
The streamer has often come under fire for engaging in controversial content to raise views as well as posting clickbaits and sensationalising his videos. In 2019, Neon faked having terminal cancer and claimed that if his surgery didn’t go well, he would bleed to death. Few days later, a video was posted on his channel, announcing he had passed away from a brain tumour. But on December 31 2019, Neon posted another video in which he told his fans he had miraculously survived and recovered from his illness in just two days.
The streamer faced backlash again when he posted a misleading video titled Meeting someone with coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the thumbnail featured Neon wearing a mask in a hospital while visiting a sick person, the video was actually an interview conducted online with a user who claimed to have the virus.
Both hoaxes have been exposed by another YouTuber, JT, prompting Neon to delete the videos and issue an apology.
The YouTuber went off radar earlier this month when he had gone travelling to Dubai. Without any updates on his situation, fans began spreading baseless speculations about the streamer. Some online users claimed that Neon had been sentenced to jail for one year which was proven to be a lie by dreddinfo.com Others have made false claims that Neon passed away while in custody which was also disproved.
But the streamer resurfaced alive and well on April 18, 2024 in his latest video where he explained what had happened to him. Neon has been arrested with his girlfriend, Sam Frank, for filming in a theme park in Dubai without proper permits. The moment the pair got apprehended was caught on live stream.
The streamer explained that the situation escalated when his team accidentally filmed the police. “We were filming in an area where we weren’t supposed to film, and it was not a good situation, not a good scenario,” Neon said.
“The real situation was that we accidentally filmed the cops… The idiot filmed the cops, it wasn’t his fault, I don’t blame him, I take full accountability, it was my fault.”
Following the incident, the YouTuber reportedly fired his security team and shared that he had spent 37 hours in jail. He added: “It showed me that actions have consequences… You can’t go around in Dubai, the most safe and respected place ever, and record whatever, thinking you could get away with it.”
