Virus leaves FaZe Clan and claims owners “hated” him after anti-LGBT tweet
FaZe Clan/Instagram: fazevirusssFormer FaZe Clan streamer and YouTuber Talal ‘Virus’ Almalki has officially left the organization, citing issues with their treatment of him and even accusing senior members of the organization of “hating” him.
Virus was the first member to join FaZe Clan that lived in the Middle East, representing a big push into a whole new market for the former sniping clan, as the winner of FaZe5 in 2020.
Hailing from Saudi Arabia, Virus brought with him a legion of new fans that might not have engaged with FaZe before, but things turned sour when he was called out for an anti-LGBTQ+ tweet during Pride Month in 2022.
After the team tweeted out their support of Pride Month, Virus said that as a Muslim, he does not support it due to his religious views, in a tweet that was deleted fairly promptly as it started to blow up.
Several months later, on January 23, 2023, Virus confirmed in a YouTube video that he had left FaZe, and felt as though he had been wronged by them throughout his tenure.
“Throughout 2022, I wasn’t proud of ‘FaZe Virus,’” he explained. “I was ashamed. I had a strange feeling.
“When I started in 2021, there is no denial that there were great things going on in the Clan — I was happy thinking that this is my place and this is the place where I accomplish my dreams.
He mentioned that the organization never really appreciated his ideas to bring FaZe to the Middle East, and all the big plans he had since joining them, even when directly trying to bridge FaZe to a Saudi Arabian team, saying that “no one gives a sh*t.”
He continued: “In 2022, they put up a specific tweet, and I was awake at 4 AM and I started getting messages and notifications of people asking me ‘why are you supporting them’ and as someone that represents both FaZe and Saudi Arabia, I had to say something.”
“I spent 10 minutes crafting a response that didn’t harm anyone, but I wish I didn’t give it any thought, these dirty, sick people with their tweet.”
He claims another non-Muslim member agreed with him at the time, saying that Virus said nothing wrong and “only expressed his opinion to fans.”
Virus added that following this incident, he felt “hate” from many people within the organization: “There was a founder who hated me so much, which he didn’t express, but I just felt like he wanted to kill me.”
“I also lost contracts along the way, valued at half a million Riyals,” he explained. “It put me in a bad position because after I signed these contracts, I was expecting to see the money in three months. Thinking it was in my future, I decided to go upgrade my car, you won’t believe how much it was, but I upgraded it for around 100,000 Riyals.
“I paid for the car, and then lost the 500,000 Riyals [approximately $133k]. Imagine the situation I was put in. My life turned upside down … Through it all, the worst part is that I felt like my creativity was being sucked out of me, and my wings were being cut off.”
FaZe Clan has not commented on Virus leaving the organization, though his creator page is still up on their website.