Popular video game streamer Ninja recently told the world that he doesn’t stream with female gamers.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins said he chooses not to play with female gamers out of respect for his wife, Jessica Blevins, who is also his manager and a fellow streamer named “JGhosty.”
He said he avoids gaming with other women to avoid any rumors of flirting.
Ninja, who has more than 10 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch and is known worldwide for playing “Fortnite” from Cary-based Epic Games, says he remains constantly mindful of who he plays with.
“If I have one conversation with one female streamer where we’re playing with one another, and 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,” he told Polygon in an interview.
However, Ninja’s comments sparked a wide range of criticism for the gamer. He tweeted a statement out Monday to clarify what he meant.
“I wanted to take a moment to address the discussion around the article that came out over the weekend,” he said in the tweeted statement. “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.
“It is something that affects all streamers, especially ones that make their relationships public,” he continued. “I wanted to bring attention to this issue and my comments should not be characterized as anything beyond that.”
Blevins, who reportedly makes $500,000 per month, said it was his decision to stream with men only.
“That was not even her. She had nothing to do with it. That was me being, ‘I love our relationship,'” he said. “I honestly think that … it’s just kind of like a respect thing.”
According to BBC News, female gamer and Twitch streamer Rage Darling isn’t offended by Ninja’s comments, but says he is “indirectly reinforcing the stereotype that a lot of female gamers are Twitch thots.”
A “Twitch thot” is “basically someone, particularly female, that uses her sexual identity to get more views or more money. Someone that is quite promiscuous,” Darling said, according to BBC News.
