CiccioGamer89

Alessandrini originally registered a YouTube account in the early 2010s but, after reaching 1,000 subscribers, YouTube decided to close his channel. On 8 July 2012 he joined YouTube again under the nickname CiccioGamer89.[4]

In his early years as a YouTube creator, Alessandrini focused on video game commentaries and Let's Play about Minecraft[‡ 2] and Slenderman,[‡ 3] without made followers see his face.[5] After a month, he decide to be seen in the face in a video, revealing the reason that prompted him to choose the nickname with which he became famous. On 8 September 2012, he made his first vlog.[‡ 4] During this first years, he made his popularity with the two "trademarks" of his channel: the hermit crab which acts as both the logo and mascot of the channel and his characteristic greeting at the beginning of each video, "Hakuna Matata, ragazzi!" (in Swahili: "Without thoughts"), a reference to The Lion King's film.

In a short time, Alessandrini becomes a point of reference for the Italian YouTube community, with his videos about FIFA, MotoGP 15, Clash Royale and his format In Cucina con Ciccio.[4] The format consist in advertising cooking videos.[4] In February 2014 he reached 100,000 subscribers on YouTube and after 10 month he reached 500,000 subscribers.[6]

On 2 July 2016 he received YouTube Golden Button for 1,000,000 subscribers.[‡ 5] On 1 October 2016, while he was signing autographs at Romics, an eighteen year old hit Alessandrini in the eye with a Nutella croissant and fled into the crowd: after about half an hour he returned managing to hit him with another croissant to the second time.[7][8][9] On the second time, however, the YouTuber's guards managed to capture him and brought him in front of Alessandrini. The boy began to cry in front of him, and so Alessandrini decided not to file a complaint with him. Two days later Alessandrini uploaded a video with his reactions, where he expressed all his disappointment towards those who use YouTube to incite gestures of that kind and create hatred towards him.[7][8][9]

On October 5, the attacker, who owns the Zedrik HD channel, uploaded a video in which he claimed responsibility for the act, calling it "a joke"; he also said he had spoken to Alessandrini to apologize.[10] The fact was later confirmed by a video uploaded to the latter's channel.

Suffering from obesity, in 2017 Alessandrini underwent a bariatric surgery operation together with his brother Simone, through the sleeve gastrectomy procedure.[11][12] In February 2017 he published an autobiographical book Io, me e me stesso.[13][14] In 2017 he was also nominated in the top 3 in the Gameplay category of the Web Star Awards.[15]

In the same year he start doing videos about Fortnite Battle Royale and in 2018 he published his second book CiccioGamer89 Presenta Fortnite. Trucchi e Segreti.[16]

In November 2018, Alessandrini joined the streaming platform Twitch. However, his experience on the platform only lasts a year.[17]

On 2019, two years later the first operation, they started another operation.[18] In the same year he pubblished his second book about Fortnite Battle Royale and eSport and in 2020 he published his first cooking book.[19][20]

In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he made a fundraiser during a livestream, raising €2,300 donated to the Spallanzani Hospital in Rome.[21] In the next months, during another livestream in collaboration with Tom's Hardware and the Italian YouTubers Favij and Anima, Alessandrini raised other €17,209.[22][23]

On September 22, 2022, after being urged via video on TikTok by Alex Theory to try his puffed rice cakes, he makes a video in which he reviews them.[‡ 6] Exactly two months later he publishes personalized rice cakes together with Alex,[‡ 7] initially planned to be a limited edition.

On early November, Alessandrini announced a collaboration with Durex Italia for the creation of limited edition condoms, called "Durex Let's go".[24][25]

On 19 November 2022 Alessandrini was reported by the Guardia di Finanza for tax evasion for €400.000, he would not have declared income for €1 million.[26][27][28][29] According to the reconstructions, Alessandrini would have failed to declare to the tax authorities more than one million euros in compensation in the last five years.[26][27][29] With these figures, having exceeded the minimum thresholds of punishment established by current legislation, once the financiers of the Provincial Command of Rome discovered the omission, the complaint was immediately triggered.[26][27][29]

During the investigations, the military reconstructed in detail the volume of the entrepreneur's and the company's turnover thanks to an analysis of the partnership contracts stipulated with the multimedia giant Google Ireland and with some sponsorship agencies.[30]

Alessandrini gave a first update on the matter via his Instagram profile, where he explained that he was not a tax evader and that his lawyers were already working on the case.[31][28]

In January 2023 he received further criticism for his political point of view expressed during a live broadcast, praising a one-party state.[32][33] Two days after the broadcast and the start of the critics, Alessandrini released a YouTube's video in witch he responded to them.[34] In his videos he summed up his political ideas with one sentence: "I am from the Disneyland Paris party, a place where all races, all colors and all people are happy together to have fun, without prejudice".[34] He also specified that what he meant was that "Italian politics divides people" thus structured into watertight compartments between "right" and "left".[34]

In March 2023 he published his second cooking book, I Burger di Ciccio, and on 1 April Alessandrini took part at Romics, seven years after the last time.[35][‡ 8]

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):