Ninja defends his decision to avoid streaming with women

Fortnite-forged Twitch streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins recently stated that he avoids streaming with women on Twitch because he doesn't want to bring drama or gossip down on himself, his wife, or other women. 

"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," Blevins told Polygon, adding that "the only way to avoid that [gossip] is to not play with them at all." 

Blevins said that "there hasn't been a single female gamer or streamer on Twitch or anything like that who's been upset about that." But in the past few days, several women, including many Twitch streamers and YouTubers, have openly disagreed with Blevins' view. Some women argued that it reinforces the gender divide already seen in games and Twitch, and others said they were disappointed to see the biggest and most influential streamer on the platform bow to the threat of drama rather than use his influence to help combat the sexism that fuels that drama.

However, some streamers, like Rachel "Valkyrae" Hoffsetter, supported Blevins and encouraged others to "respect decisions that limit drama in people's personal lives," as Hoffsetter put it. Likewise, others agreed that Blevins' decision is the best way to curb the Twitch community's toxicity. The debate raged on, so yesterday Blevins tweeted a follow-up statement to clarify his stance. 

"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," Blevins said. "It is something that affects all streamers, especially ones that make their relationships public. I wanted to bring attention to this issue and my comments should not be characterized as anything beyond that. Having just celebrated my one year anniversary, my wife and my family will always be the most important thing to me and I am doing my best to protect them." 

Blevins also said that he looks forward to playing with "all kinds of Fortnite players" at future tournaments and events, and in a reply to another Twitter user, pointed out that he regularly hosts women on his Twitch channel. 

Blevins closed his statement by naming three Twitch streamers—Curvyllama, Juliatv and HalieAtisuto—and encouraging his followers to check out their channels. In response, HalieAtisuto explained that she herself was targeted by "conspiracy theories in regards to my intentions" when she was hosted by Blevins, and supported his initial comments and his updated statement. 

Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.

Latest in Survival & Crafting
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Sunset in the desert in Hello Sunshine
Hello Sunshine is a desert survival sandbox where you live in the literal shadow of the colossus
Performers acting as zombies are seen on a train coach during the "Train to Apocalypse" event as part of the Pandora Box Artmire Festival 2024 held to attract commuters to ride the city's rapid transit system LRT (light rapid transit), in Jakarta on July 11, 2024. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)
Venerable browser-based MMO Urban Dead is closing this week after a 20-year run, not with a bang but with a whimper
Wearing a hazmat suit, a Rust player proudly holds up a freshly cooked pie, foregrounded by a table covered with pies and a large pumpkin on the left.
Rust's crafting update gives the survival sim real-time food cooking and pies to rival Monster Hunter, but the tastiest treat is the ability to make and throw 'bee grenades'
A pig, a cow, and two birds dance
Minecraft Live returns in March with everyone's favorite kind of content: 'exclusive movie content'
An explosion in a desert environment
Survival sandbox Core Keeper gets explosive next week with a whole new skill tree devoted to bombs and grenades
Latest in News
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam