Top “Fortnite” streamer Ninja responded to the controversy regarding his decision not to stream with female players with a statement from his Twitter account on Monday.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has a following of over 10 million on his Twitch channel, where he sometimes streams with other male players. When asked why he doesn’t stream with women in a Polygon interview, Blevins responded that he made the decision to avoid issues because “even if there’s a hint of flirting, that is going to be taken and going to be put on every single video and be clickbait forever.”
Blevins has since clarified what he meant by this and other statements made in the interview.
“While I understand some people have implied my views mean I have something against playing with women, I want to make clear the issue I’m addressing is online harassment, and my attempt to minimize it from our life,” Blevins wrote on his Twitter account— the “our” referring to himself and his wife, Jessica “JGhosty” Blevins, another Twitch streamer.
Blevins is facing a backlash from some in the gaming industry, some of whom feel that the most popular streamer on Twitch (according to Twitch Stats) refusing to stream with women who play “Fortnite” sends a strong, even if unintended, message.
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Ninja Doesn't Stream With Women to Avoid Rumors and Marriage Issues
Blevins, however, insists that this is not about the female streamers, but about his desire to avoid harassment and damage to his marriage.
“[Harassment] is something that affects all streamers, especially ones that make their relationships public,” Blevins further stated. “I wanted to bring attention to this issue and my comments should not be characterized as anything beyond that.”
Blevins, who just celebrated his one-year anniversary with his wife, further explained that he is doing his best to protect his wife and family.
Blevins then pointed fans toward three female streamers: curvyllama, julia_tv, and halieatisuto.
To close out his statement, Blevins called attention to his chances to play with female gamers in future opportunities not related to his Twitch channel.
“I look forward to the opportunity to meet and play with all kinds of ‘Fortnite’ players in future tournaments and events.”
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