ZeRo permanently banned from Twitch after harassment allegations

Olivia Richman Published 24/07/2020

One of Super Smash Bros.’s most popular streamers, Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios, has been permanently banned from Twitch. 

The streaming platform appeared to make the decision after ZeRo admitted to sending sexually-charged and inappropriate messages to a minor when he was 19-years-old, though Twitch hasn’t made a public statement on the matter. 

The Smash community was torn when the allegations against ZeRo first arose. They’d come after a string of other serious accusations against other top players, and many of ZeRo’s fans felt that his accusations weren’t as damning. For a while, many were also claiming that ZeRo hadn’t even known that the girls were underage at the time, but that was later debunked by screenshots showing him acknowledging their age on Skype. 

Even though some within the Smash scene still feel that ZeRo flirting with a minor wasn’t enough to end his career, the former pro himself has stated that he plans to never return to tournaments. 

“I really want to atone, and I just want this discussion to stop. I’m not a good person, and it doesn’t matter how terrible my life was, I did terrible things and that’s the end of it. I don’t deserve for people to defend me,” ZeRo said in a TwitLonger. “I’m working right now to obviously lose my sponsorships or any type of thing like that. I’m obviously not making more videos in general as well.”

ZeRo’s sponsors did end up dropping him. He lost his partnership with Tempo Storm soon after his TwitLonger was published on July 4. 

The organization stated that they “appreciated” ZeRo’s “transparency” on the matter but chose to let him go since he did confess to having sexual conversations with a minor. They also said they connected ZeRo with “professional counsel.”

ZeRo currently has all of his tweets set to private. He has also ceased streaming and uploading YouTube videos, and has turned off comments on his most recently uploaded YouTube videos. 

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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