Sexism from IShowSpeed puts Valorant toxicity under spotlight
YouTuber IShowSpeed has been given a blanket ban from Riot Games titles after a bitter in-game argument with some Valorant teammates went viral.
YouTuber IShowSpeed has become the face of Valorant toxicity. A video posted to Twitter by esports commentator Jake Lucky went viral showing the 17-year-old exploding with frustration after a botched clutch attempt.
The video shows IShowSpeed in a one-on-one clutch situation where he misses a shot and gets killed, losing the round. A teammate says “man, you’ve got to hit those shots,” which prompts an intense reaction. Another teammate who sounds to most listeners like a woman chimed in saying “I guess you don’t know how to f—— play the game because you sound like ass.”
After this, IShowSpeed changes his focus towards the woman who made this latest remark. In an extended rant, he calls her a “bitch” and goes off further on her for the interjection.
“Is a b—- talking to me? Is a female talking to me? Am I tripping or is a female talking to me? Get off the f—— game and do your husband’s dishes, b—-,” IShowSpeed said.
IShowSpeed was permanently banned from Twitch last year over threats of sexual violence, providing additional context to these latest comments.
Video of the incident went viral and sparked discussion on the normalization of sexist behavior within Valorant. Riot Games staff quickly acknowledged the matter, and it was later revealed that IShowSpeed had been banned from Valorant and other Riot Games titles.
IShowSpeed apologized after the video started going viral, saying that he entered the game in a bad state due to his aunt’s death and encountering racist behavior while streaming. He also noted that the game was from “months ago.” Despite that, he was still hit with a ban.
IShowSpeed incident spotlights sexism, racism within the Valorant player base
It wasn’t just IShowSpeed’s sexist rant that went viral. Toxicity directed towards the streamer was highlighted as well. Multiple videos of racist behavior directed towards IShowSpeed were shared, showing the pervasive problems within Valorant at the moment.
Valorant unseated Dota 2 as the most toxic online multiplayer game in the world last year according to the Anti-Defamation League. IShowSpeed might be gone, but that’s not going to have much impact on the issues within the game.
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