Asmongold Palestine Comments Controversy

Overview

Asmongold Palestine Comments Controversy refers to controversial statements made by Twitch streamer Asmongold in mid-October 2024 relating to the ongoing Israel-Hamas Conflict in which he said he had "no sympathy" for Palestinians, describing them as having "an inferior culture" and that they "would be the ones doing the genociding if they had the power to do so" (referencing Sharia law). The contentious statements, which were said while he was livestreaming on Twitch, quickly began to spread around social media in the following hours and days, with many calling for backlash against him or labeling him as racist. Two days after the incident, Asmongold was banned on Twitch for violating the site's community guidelines, with Asmon then uploading a long-form apology video on his YouTube channel the day after.

Background

On October 13th, 2024, Asmongold went live on his Zackrawrr^[1] Twitch channel, during which he discussed reports of human rights violations in Palestine amid the ongoing war in Israel. The moment took place 22 minutes into his livestream. After the stream, the clip of his comments during the segment quickly garnered attention and were reposted elsewhere online.

For example, X / Twitter user @CapriSunnPapi^[2] reuploaded the clip on October 14th while criticizing Asmongold (shown below). The post received over 3.2 million views, 44,000 likes, 4,000 reposts and 860 replies in one day.

Developments

The day after the controversial statement was made, fellow Twitch streamer Hasan "Hasanabi" Piker invited Asmon to talk on stream for several hours and articulate their various positions and points on the Israel-Palestine situation. Clips from that stream began to circulate online shortly after, with various people being on Hasan's side for defending the culture of Palestine, while others sided with Asmongold.

For example, on October 14th, 2024, X user @HasanabiProd^[4] uploaded a clip from the stream in which Asmongold said he voted for former President Donald Trump in the 2016 election as he didn't like Hillary Clinton, with Hasan then comparing it to Palestinians voting for Hamas (shown below). The post received over 411,700 views and 16,000 likes in less than a day.

Later that same day, Asmongold then made an official statement of apology on the matter. Taking back his doubling-down that occurred multiple times prior and during the Hasanabi stream, the statement posted to his official @Asmongold^[5] X account in which he said that no one deserves to have their life destroyed even if they do things he finds regressive. This apology quickly went viral and earned over 6.5 million views, 14,000 likes and 9,800 replies in less than a day (shown below).

Hasan Piker's "Anne Frank" Comment

Also during the debate stream between Hasanabi and Asmongold on October 14th, 2024, Hasan made a comment comparing the Yemeni pirate and Houthi rebel he interviewed (known as "Timhouthi Chalamet" online) earlier that year to Anne Frank, which quickly garnered virality and criticism online.^[7]

That day, X user @jstlk_ reuploaded the clip of the Anne Frank comment to the platform and mocked the streamer, receiving nearly 80,000 views, 1,000 likes and 40 comments in less than a day (shown below).

Hasan says that speaking to "TimHouthi Chalomet" was like speaking to Anne Frank…As if he doesn't openly support the Houthis…This dude has lost his fucking mind 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/BgIFcbMnCH

— jstlk (@jstlk_) October 14, 2024

Twitch Ban

On October 15th, 2024, Asmongold was then temporarily banned on Twitch following the controversy, with a notification on his channel^[6] stating that it was "temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch's Community Guidelines or Terms of Service."

Asmongold's Response Video

Following the Twitch ban and controversy, Asmongold uploaded a video titled "My Plans Moving Forward" to his Asmongold TV YouTube^[12] channel on October 16th, 2024, in which he addressed the backlash, apologized for his statements, discussed the Twitch ban and his perspective on the incident, as well as outlined plans for his personal growth and future content. He also said he would step away from his leadership positions with OTK and Starforge Systems.

The video (seen below) received over 295,100 views, 48,000 likes and 18,100 comments in roughly one hour.

Online Reactions

The backlash against Asmongold following the stream on October 13th, 2024, and the stream with Hasanabi the following day was immediate, with numerous social media users bringing up other controversial statements made by him in the past as a way to further the conversation about canceling him and his gaming organization One True King (OTK).^[8]

Another point brought up amid the controversy was the "inferior" comment made by Asmongold, with many people showing different pictures of his notoriously dirty home and bedroom as a way of attacking his way of life compared to what he called "inferior."

For instance, on October 14th, 2024, X user @VenCanine^[3] uploaded two different pictures of Asmon's room while attacking him for the contentious comment (shown below). The post received over 82,600 views, 1,100 likes and 30 replies in roughly a day.

Numerous posts discussing Asmongold's controversial commentary, as well as Hasan's Anne Frank comparison, appeared on Reddit in mid-October 2024 as it spread online.^[9][10] For example, both the initial comments from Asmon and Hasanabi were posted to the subreddit /r/LivestreamFail^[7][11] on October 13th and 14th, with the former receiving over 5,900 upvotes and 3,500 comments in two days and the latter receiving over 3,100 upvotes and 850 comments in roughly one day.

Search Interest

External References