Grace Van Dien hits back at “sexist” criticism after joining FaZe in podcast
YouTube: Grace Van DienStranger Things star Grace Van Dien hit back at the “sexist” criticism she received after joining FaZe last month in her very first podcast episode with Call of Duty streamer Ashtronova.
Grace Van Dien’s induction into FaZe was met with a wave of backlash from the org’s OG members — namely, FaZe Rain, who levied several personal insults toward the actress after the news broke in May.
Of note, Rain actually leaked the news of Grace’s signing with the group days beforehand and even called her “excruciatingly mid, who I would never let touch me on my drunkest night” in a YouTube video that took the net by storm.
Grace hit back at Rain by mentioning his previous struggles with drug abuse, sparking backlash against her from Rain’s fans. Rain later reached out to Grace via Discord to apologize for his comments, and the two met up to film a video squashing their beef… but things didn’t end up getting resolved.
Instead, Grace left their conversation in tears before threatening to leave FaZe Clan for good. Since then, it’s been quiet from Grace, while Rain has continued to air out their private Discord messages on his YouTube channel.
However, Van Dien would finally break her silence on June 7, several days after making threats to quit FaZe. She uploaded a podcast episode with noted Call of Duty player and streamer Ashtronova that morning, where the two women discussed sexism in the gaming world.
Grace Van Dien hits back at “sexist” backlash after joining FaZe
Near the end of their conversation — during which they talked about Ashtronova’s treatment as a woman in the Call of Duty world — Grace made mention of the backlash she received after joining FaZe.
“I’m so tired of the like [guys seeing a girl and being like], ‘Oh, do you even game? What’s your rank?'” she said, referencing the reaction she got after signing up with the group. (FaZe Rain notably called out her rank in Valorant in a YouTube video.)
“I’m so tired of that being the reaction versus when a guy games,” she continued. “People don’t have the same reaction. When I was announced at FaZe as their newest recruit, people were like, ‘But does she even game, bro?’ You can look at my Twitch. It’s right there. Why do you have to be a d*ck? I don’t get it. I don’t get it, at all.”
(Topic begins at 14:40)
This marks the first major statement Grace has made about the situation after exposing an explicit tweet Rain made back in 2013 in a short video hitting back at the FaZe OG last week.
For now, her fate with FaZe remains unclear, as she removed the organization from her Twitter profile amid the drama and has yet to confirm or deny if she’s still with the group.