The last week on Twitch has been a whirlwind of controversy in the wake of JiDion’s hate raid on Imane “Pokimane” Anys, which continues to escalate despite JiDion’s permanent ban on Twitch. This is due to the involvement of Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, whose role in the controversyPokimanespoke about in her most recent stream. Her decision doesn’t appear to be sitting well with Ninja’s wife and manager, Jessica Blevins, who is threatening Pokimane with legal action as a result of sharing their interactions on stream.
The situation began on January 12, when Pokimane washate raided by JiDionduring his first partnered stream on Twitch. She ended stream early while JiDion was handed down a 14-day ban for the hate raid, though the harassment did not stop, as the latter changed his Twitter profile picture to one of Pokimane without makeup, reacted to her streams on Instagram, and appeared to call out the male segment of her fanbase. This ultimately led to Twitch handing down a permanent ban for JiDion as a result of the ongoing harassment Pokimane was facing from his fanbase, something JiDion has since posted an apology video for on his YouTube channel.
RELATED:Twitch Permanently Bans JiDion
While Pokimane has spoken somewhat about JiDion’s raid, she spoke aboutNinja’s involvement during his most recent stream and her interactions with Ninja and Jessica in the aftermath. She shared her frustrations with the discourse, feeling she was being gaslit by Jessica appearing to deny or downplay Ninja’s part in the controversy along with clips reinforcing her frustrations. In return, Jessica messaged Pokimane that the couple would be speaking with lawyers and seek a possible defamation lawsuit which the latter shared on Twitter.
Ninja’s involvement, specifically, began on the same day as the hate raid, when JiDion gifted 100 subscriptions to Ninja asking to playFortnitewhile JiDion’s viewers messaged Ninja to see if he could help prevent the first ban. Ninja appears to message his Twitch manager after several requests in his chat, but did not speak further of it.
Ninja then addressed the situation on his next stream, saying he spoke with JiDion about it and how he can’t send his viewers to hate raid other streamers while also trying to downplay any malicious intent as JiDion being a “massive troll.” He added he would still be down to play with JiDion when the original 14-day ban was over.
Both VODs have since been deleted, however, clips from both streams continue to appear on YouTube.
It remains to be seen whether Ninja and his wife will pursue legal action against Pokimane or not. While the threat may be serious, it could also be one that backfires on the couple. Successful defamation suits are a rarity in the US, as they require the plaintiff to prove malicious intent, something that is made extremely difficult when the suit involves public figures.
However, many content creators, likeLudwigand HasanAbi, both of whom are familiar with US libel laws, feel the threat is grandstanding and ultimately will not go anywhere.
MORE:JiDion’s Permanent Twitch Ban Could Speak to a New Push Against Hate Raids
