Deadmau5 to boycott Twitch following ban for homophobic slur
Deadmau5 / TwitchJoel Thomas Zimmerman, also known as deadmau5, has been banned on Twitch for ‘hate speech’ following the use of a homophobic slur against a stream sniper during a PUBG match. The DJ later responded to the situation, accusing the streaming platform of double standards and censorship.
According to various reports, deadmau5 was streaming a game of PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) when he encountered a stream sniper and quickly became agitated with the situation.
In a Twitch clip that has since been deleted, the Canadian reportedly said: “Is that some fucking cock-sucking stream sniper f*g?”
Deadmau5 is best known for his work as a DJ.
The outburst resulted in the internationally recognized DJ being banned from Twitch. Presumably this ban on the Amazon-owned streaming platform is a temporary one, though, as deadmau5 later suggested that he would be cutting ties on a permanent basis of his own accord.
Stream snipers are players that watch a streamer and attempt to get into a game with them. Once in the match, they will often try to interact or antagonize the streamer in-game in order to see their reaction on the stream.
In a Reddit post about the incident, Zimmerman stated: “While it was intended to insult a fuckin asshat who was being a fucking asshat, it wasn’t ‘directed at an entire group of people who have a sexual orientation that differs from my own’. Fuck off with that shit.
“I know who I am, and I don’t have to fucking sit here and cry and defend my fucking self with the obligatory ‘I’M NOT THAT PERSON, I AM SORRY’ reflex.”
Deadmau5 was playing PUBG at the time of the outburst.
With regards to his partnership with Twitch, he said: “I’m not going to stand for Twitch’s double standard when it comes to censoring and suspending me for harmless shit.
“While we’ve had some fun partnerships here and there, and they were a great company to work with… I’m gunna have to cut this one short. I don’t have the capacity to deal with that kind of shit.”
The Reddit account that Zimmerman used to post his response to the ban and his use of the homophobic slur appears to have been deleted, but the statement can be viewed in its entirety in the screenshot below, captured by Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau:
Deadmau5 accused Twitch of having double standards.
Breslau, a veteran of the esports and gaming industry, stated: “Should deadmau5 be calling people f*gs in games? No. Should deadmau5 be banned from Twitch given the context and intent? I’d say also no. Twitch, not Twitter or YouTube, is quickly becoming the battleground platform for what can or cannot be said.”
Whether you side with Twitch, deadmau5, or land somewhere in between, it seems unlikely that you’ll be seeing the DJ’s face on Twitch again any time soon.