Pokimane sparks backlash over child-stealing joke: “This is messed up”

Twitch star Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys made a joke on stream about ‘how children are so cute, she could “steal” one’ and it’s caused a stir online.

Pokimane was streaming on Twitch on December 10 when she talked at length about just how cute babies are.

“You guys want to know how I know I’m a woman in my 20s? Because, when I’m walking out… and I see a little kid, and I look at them, and they look at me, and they look SO damn cute,” she gushed. “And their cheeks are nice and round and supple. And they’re so little, and they’re wearing little people clothes! Like, you know when the clothes are little and it’s so f**king cute?!”

She then joked, “And they’re looking like the PeepoWow with the big eyes, and I’m like, your little body and your little clothes but your big cheeks! The cheeks are too big for the little body! And I look at the parents, and the parents aren’t looking, and I’m like ‘It would be so easy to steal your child.'”

Although the comments about “stealing a child” were an obvious joke, it drew in some criticism from her chat who spammed tons of question marks throughout her baby-adoring rant.

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The clip also drew in some attention on social media with one Twitter user who said, “you know you’re super f**ked up when even your twitch chat unanimously agrees that this is messed up,” amongst many others.

Not everybody found it offensive, though. One fan responded with “Why is everyone losing their minds at this? She just said little kids are cute, literally every woman I’ve [seen] between 20 and 70 years of age has said something like this at some point. Go outside.”

Pokimane has yet to respond to the backlash surrounding the joke.