American YouTuber Returns Home After Kidnapping In Haiti
Well-known internet personality Addison Pierre Maalouf, who traveled from Atlanta to Haiti in hopes of interviewing violent and notorious gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, has reportedly arrived home in the United States after a ransom payment of $50,000 was made to the very gang leader he had traveled to interview.
Maalouf celebrated in a post on X, formerly Twitter, early this morning, writing, “Finally Home after 22 days in Haiti.” He also thanked his supporters “from the bottom” of his heart.
Cherizier is the current leader of the G9 Family and Allies, a gang that has taken over the government of the small nation. Maalouf, an American YouTuber known as YourFellowArab was abducted along with his Haitian guide by members of the Mawozo gang, a 400-man-militia branch of the G9 Family on March 14, less than 24 hours after their arrival.
News of his disappearance spread across the media, with a fellow streamer, widely known as Lalem, confirming the disappearance of his friend on his X account.
Lalem also reposted the last video uploaded by Maalouf at a hotel when they first arrived in Haiti, warning against the dangers of the city and explaining why they were waiting until daylight to travel to their destination of Port-au-Prince.
Maalouf regained his freedom and control of his X account, but was initially still stranded in the island nation due to a transportation issue that prevented him from getting to the airport.
The ill-advised content creator seems to have been in a dangerous situation, posting cautious and bone-chilling statements to his followers during his kidnapping, saying, “If I die, thanks for watching what I’ve put out. If I live, all glory to God.”
On Friday, a fellow YouTuber claimed to have spoken to Maalouf on the phone of one of his captors.
“Arab [Addison] has been kept in a cage in a place on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. His location is known,” Miles Routledge posted on his X platform. Routledge also claimed that Maalouf is in “excellent spirits” and is planning on uploading a video recapping the events of his abduction. “All we can do is pray for Arab and Sean, may Christ look after them,” he continued.
The U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny whether Maalouf has actually been abducted, but only commented that they were “fully aware of reports of the kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Haiti.”
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