Ninja Explains Why He Doesn’t Play With Female Gamers
L: Reach HigherThe top Twitch streamer, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has given his reasons explaining why he doesn’t play alongside female gamers and streamers.
As the most popular live streamer on Twitch, Ninja has his every move scrutinized by millions of fans and haters alike, so his decision to not game with females has sparked debate amongst the community.
Speaking to Polygon at the Samsung Unpacked event in New York, Ninja laid out exactly why he has made the very deliberate decision, a move to protect his wife and manager, Jessica “JGhosty” Blevins.
He explained that it is the only way to avoid internet trolls spinning false rumors and gossip about Ninja and other women, particularly on a platform where women are already treated (by some) differently than male streamers.
“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.”
Ninja said that it was entirely his own decision not to stream with women, and wasn’t his wife’s instruction.
“That was not even her. She had nothing to do with it. That was me being, ‘I love our relationship,’ and, ‘No — I’m not even gonna put you through that.'”
One of the most well known cases of this has been the speculation around two popular Fortnite streamers Ali “Myth” Kabbani and Imane “Pokimane” Anys, who often play together.
This is exactly the kind of speculation which Ninja is trying to avoid his wife going through, and given his massive audience, the rumors, speculation and ‘clickbait’ would be exponentially worse for Ninja and JGhosty than for most.
“The only way to avoid that [gossip] is to not play with them at all.”
So there you have it, Ninja avoids streaming and playing with other female gamers to get away from the constant rumor mill that often rears its ugly head caused by even the slightest interaction between a male and female streamer.
Source: Polygon