Fortnite pro deletes Twitter after “racist” video sparks backlash
Epic GamesThe 13-second video, shared widely by Jake Lucky, shows multiple firearms in a small room and a safe with shelves full of ammo.
“Just in case there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, or a n***** outbreak, we got the armory n****,” Sin allegedly says in the video.
Actually insane that people like this exist in the space. Fortnite player “Sin” who qualified for FNCS grand finals today openly saying he fears an “N word outbreak” while showing off his gun collection
What the actual fk pic.twitter.com/HfhIEg0P58
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) May 23, 2022
Sin doubled down on the video, which was originally posted by an account under the name Sin3278Racist, confirming that the video is of him.
“I never threatened anyone or said I’m gonna do anything,” Sin said in a Twitter post screenshotted by Jake Lucky.
The video started being widely shared on May 22. By the morning of May 23, Sin’s Twitter account had been deleted, and the account that initially leaked the video was also taken down.
“This was a Twitter account used to expose a racist Fortnite player, the person in question deleted his Twitter and therefore this account has no further use,” the Twitter bio for Sin3278 now says.
Sin recently qualified for the Fortnite Champion Series: Chapter 3 Season 2 – Grand Finals in North America with his partner ‘Acro’ over the course of May. Acro has since distanced himself from his duo.
Regards to everything happening right now, I do not associate with anything sin has said and do not agree with it. Whether it's him or not I do not support it at all. I will never be associating with him again and I hope you all understand I have no control over anything. Sorry.
— Acro (@AcropolisFN) May 23, 2022
“Whether it’s him or not I do not agree with it al all. I will never be associating with him again and I hope you all understand that I have no control over anything,” Acro said on Twitter.
The two had the second most points in the North American East region after the third Semi-Final Session.
Fortnite community reaction to pro’s “racist” video
The video has been retweeted over 500 times and over 400 Twitter users have QT’d it at the time of publishing. The video also comes over a week after a mass shooting took place in Buffalo, New York in which the shooter targeted Black community members.
One of the more prominent reactions to the “racist” video form the Fortnite pro was Complexity content creator ‘Ninjayla.’
the amount of fear and anxiety that black people have to deal with because of people like this is so fucking sad. i do not feel safe anywhere https://t.co/jamoeVlYH9
— jayla (@Ninjayla) May 23, 2022
“I do not feel safe anywhere,” she said in a quote tweet of the video.
Sergio Brack, the Director of Esports at the University of Maryland echoed this sentiment in his own post.
“I don’t see racism in gaming.”
We don’t just make this stuff up. Black people are not valued, protected, or respected in this space and I’m reminded of that on a regular basis… https://t.co/JbPrBTOE5C
— Sergio (@ImPhysix) May 23, 2022
“Black people are not valued, protected, or respected in this space and I’m reminded of that on a regular basis,” Brack said.
Epic Games has not issued a statement about the player or the video at the time of publishing.