LOS ANGELES — The content creator and influencer behind the popular “Coconut Kitty” online persona has reportedly passed away, according to a notice posted on her social media accounts.
That report was confirmed by a post on a close relative’s social media.
Although mostly known online simply as Coconut Kitty, the creator had used the name Diana Deets to differentiate herself from that specific character.
Deets was 37 years old, although several tabloid outlets continue reporting her age as 24.
The Message Reporting Coconut Kitty’s Passing
On Saturday, a message addressed to “all lovers and fans of Coconut” was posted to her Twitter account and to her 5.4 million Instagram followers, explaining that the previous weekend, on Feb. 12, “Coconut took her own life.”
The unsigned message continued, “it’s unfair. Life isn’t fair. We wish you guys could get to know her the way her friends and family did. She was such a light to this world, truly, she was always glowing. You could never slow that girl down. She was so hard-headed and strong, but also just so kind. With the biggest heart we have ever known. She was always trying to lift everyone up around her, she wanted everyone to win.
“She always took in animals that needed a home. She was the type of person who would drop everything to help you with your problems and would always be in your corner. She would go to war for you if anyone ever date try to hurt someone she loved. That smile of her could light up a whole room, it would turn your whole day around. Her laugh was so contagious. She was so funny. She would get you to laugh till you couldn’t breathe.
“She loved to dance and sing, and just be herself. She was always her true self with her family and friends. Her energy was so pure.
“And we wish so much that we could have taken some of the darkness that was weighing on her heart. She always felt so deeply, with her whole body, mind, and soul.
“She loved creating. She loved to make art and to express herself and we know a lot of you loved her too and she was always so grateful for you all.”
“She was so strong for so long. She was amazing and just a beautiful person. We miss her so much and life is never going to be the same without her.
“She was a mom, a sister, a daughter, a best friend for a role model for so many of you. Above all she loved her kids and being a mom. Her kids were her whole world. She was devoted to them and she wanted to make sure that they were loved. And they were so loved.
“All we ask is that you check on your friends and loved ones. You never truly know what someone is going through. Call them and tell them you love them. You never know how much time you’ll have left with the people you love.
“We love you forever Coconut, rest easy beautiful.”
A TikTok-Driven Attack Led to Doxxing
A popular cam model, creator and influencer and a 2020 XBIZ Cam Awards’ Best Premium Social Media Star nominee, Deets came to mainstream prominence in 2021, when a TikTokker singled out Coconut Kitty for criticism over the use of filters and editing to turn Deets’ face and body into the character.
The criticism soon turned into a full-blown attack by an online mob, including Q-Anon believers, anti-porn activists, incels and misogynists, who targeted and doxxed Deets, claiming the face-tuning that turned her into Coconut Kitty was deliberately crafted to look like a minor.
Rolling Stone magazine published at the time a story analyzing both Deets’ work as a creator and the out-of-proportion backlash against her unleashed through social media and anonymous posting sites like 4Chan.
Deets spoke then to Rolling Stone journalist EJ Dickson and explained that, after feeling burned out as regular cam performer in 2018, she had used her art background — she was a prolific painter and tattoo enthusiast — to create the Coconut Kitty character as a form of what she called “digital art.”
“I wanted to make something that looked like a real-life anime character — small chin, big eyes — that was made in my likeness, because I use a picture of myself and I edit it,” Deets told Dickson. “I just wanted to create a fantasy, just a character. And I was able to hide my identity and still make money off my art.”
After the doxxing and simultaneous online attacks on her, her reputation and her family — which were still ongoing by the time of her passing and continue after Saturday’s announcement — Deets’ mental health deteriorated through 2022, according to sources.
Following Her Passion
After Christmas, Deets posted on the Coconut Kitty Instagram account an unedited video of herself singing karaoke with the caption, “This is the real creator of Coconut Kitty. If you do not like my anime, follow [Diana Deets Instagram account] @rabblerousewrdianadeets and keep up with that, OK? I’m a young, intelligent businesswoman who follows her passion, despite what other people say, so stop complaining if you don’t like the anime. Otherwise, let me keep all my creations [and] my destiny and my passions. Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Then she added, “I’m young and beautiful, and the creator of Jessica Rabbit was a man who looked nothing like her.”
At the time of her passing, Deets was developing a fully-animated Coconut Kitty cartoon, which she described as a “my cartoons meets Looney Tunes” adult humor series.
On Jan. 10 she posted that she would “go silent for a month” as she worked on that project. Her last posts featuring the Coconut Kitty persona are from Feb. 4, a week before her reported passing.
