Ninja and Keemstar disagree over controversial TwitchCon drinks situation
L: Twitch/R: Ninja (Twitter)Streaming sensation Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has locked horns with Daniel ‘Keemstar‘ Keem over the controversy surrounding the safety of drinks at TwitchCon parties.
TwitchCon 2019 is in full swing at San Diego Convention Center, with popular personalities and their faithful following of fans all in attendance.
The annual convention provides Twitch streamers and their supporters an opportunity to interact on a more personal, face-to-face basis, while celebrating Twitch’s diverse video-game/livestreaming culture.
Fans flock in attendance to TwitchCon every year.Alongside inviting big names from outside of the industry, TwitchCon expands its horizons each year by throwing partner-exclusive parties, in a bid to make each convention bigger and better than last year’s iteration.
Following Ninja’s surprise switch from Twitch to Mixer, this year will be the 28-year-old’s first absence from TwitchCon in years. But the popular streamer still has his finger on the pulse of the convention, and shared his concerns on the controversy surrounding these partner parties.
Blevins responded to a tweet from Keemstar, where the drama aficionado had suggested that a Twitch streamer had overreacted to a “safety concern” regarding alcohol distribution during parties at TwitchCon.
Keem you cannot be serious… It is a convention with multiple open drinks laying there. Unsafe, unsanitary bro.
— Ninja (@Ninja) September 28, 2019
Blevins disagreed with Keemstar’s stance, arguing, “Keem you cannot be serious… It is a convention with multiple open drinks laying there”; before going on to state that the situation is “unsafe” and “unsanitary”.
Keem replied to Ninja’s tweet by questioning “What Twitch partners are drugging people? (Let me know) so I can report them.”
It’s a partner party right? What twitch partners are drugging people ?? Lmk so I can report them. But I’m not calling Twitch out for things that may happen.
— KEEM :popcorn: (@KEEMSTAR) September 28, 2019
Accessibility to beer at conventions such as TwitchCon is sold as part of the guest pass, and as such, those in heading up the event are required to provide access to alcohol at all times, in the safest manner possible. Of course, there is a fine balance between keeping beer on-hand and supervising the practices in-place.
The controversy was first brought to widespread attention after streamer AnneMunition called out the drink serving situation on Twitter.
At the time of writing, no official response has been given from Twitch amid the safety concerns of alcohol distribution.