Destiny loses Twitch partnership for "encouraging violence"

Olivia Richman Published 12/09/2020

Popular streamer Steven Kenneth “Destiny” Bonnell II has lost his Twitch partnership for “encouraging violence.”

Destiny is a variety streamer with over 576,000 followers on Twitch. He’s well known for playing League of Legends, although he’s been found in the Just Chatting category in recent broadcasts.

Although there has been no official statement from Twitch on the partnership matter, Destiny did note earlier today that the streaming platform had emailed him to inform the streamer that they were revoking his partnership due to “unspecified encouragement of violence” while using Twitch.

Why was Destiny’s Twitch partnership removed?

At first, Destiny’s fans were confused as to what he may have said that got him in trouble. After some digging, the streaming community found the clip that most likely got his Twitch partnership revoked.

Destiny violence racism partnership

“The rioting needs to fucking stop,” Destiny said. “If that means white redneck militia dudes mowing down dipshit protesters that think they can torch buildings at 10 PM, at this point they have my fucking blessing. Holy shit, this shit needs to stop. It needed to stop a long time ago.”

This statement had fans conflicted but ultimately agreeing with Twitch’s reasoning for taking away Destiny’s partnership. Some even expressed that it seemed like Destiny was “advocating for mass murder.” Others said he “shouldn’t have worded it so extremely,” even though they agreed with his take on the ongoing protests. Many followers said he should have delivered his rant in private, while others noted that it carried possible racist undertones that would have been present no matter where it was said.

Some of Destiny’s fans were angry that he lost his Twitch partnership when other streamers have said similar things with little or no consequence. This includes Hasanabi, who said to “kill those motherfuckers in the street” regarding “capitalist” property owners. Immediately after, Hasanabi clarified that he only wanted “the streets soaked red with their blood” within a video game, not in real life.

It’s really shitty of @twitch to threaten to remove partnership from @GazeWithin for “encouragement of violence” when you have clips of @hasanthehun doing the same thing but they instead send him a birthday present. https://t.co/6t63lt8bnx https://t.co/N5Yz0tJgCi @Slasher pic.twitter.com/mxoT1zsLWb
— Steven Bonnell (@DestinyGGChat) September 11, 2020

Whether Destiny’s opinion on shooting looters was supported by fans or not, the statement still supported the killing of anyone found destroying property, and Twitch took action.

After figuring out why Destiny lost his partnership, the streaming community was then confused as to why Destiny was not suspended or banned from Twitch over the matter if the platform felt it was worthy of revoking his partnership. Many fans noted that Destiny was unpartnered by Twitch’s legal department, meaning it’s possible that his words didn’t break Twitch’s Terms of Service guidelines but were still seen as potentially getting Twitch in hot water legally.

Destiny has been in trouble with Twitch in the past, including his being banned for showing nudity and for using homophobic slurs.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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