American YouTuber and streamer Zach Hoyt, widely known as Asmongold, has been banned from Twitch after making controversial remarks about Palestinians during a live stream. He referred to Palestinians as coming from an "inferior culture," sparking outrage across social media, as reported by BBC News.
Asmongold, who has over five million followers, faced significant backlash, prompting Twitch to suspend his account for violating its community guidelines, which prohibit content promoting discrimination or inferiority based on protected characteristics. His account now displays a message stating it is "temporarily unavailable" due to rule violations.
Following the incident, Asmongold posted an apology on X (formerly Twitter), acknowledging his mistake with a promise to improve. He wrote, "I'll do better" and added, "No one deserves to have their life destroyed, even if they hold views I consider regressive."
October 15, 2024
The remarks were made while streaming on his Zachrawrr channel, where he had expressed a lack of sympathy for Palestinians impacted by the Israel-Gaza conflict, calling them "terrible people" from an "inferior culture." He later admitted he had gone too far, describing himself as "way too much of an a**hole" during the stream. In a follow-up apology video on YouTube, he called his comments "disgusting" and clarified that his issue was with extremism, not the Palestinian people as a whole.
Amid criticism from fellow streamers, including BrookeAB, who labeled his remarks as "straight-up racism," Asmongold has since committed to reassessing his behavior. He has vowed to create less mean-spirited content, reduce his streaming schedule, and focus on achieving a healthier work-life balance, as reported by TheGamer.