xQc apologizes for viral Pokimane chair-sniffing ‘joke’ again amid Atrioc controversy

Eleni Thomas
xQc sniffing Pokimane

Almost six months after getting called out for sniffing Pokimane’s chair during a stream, content creator xQc has once again apologized for the viral incident on Twitch as the recent Atrioc controversy brought it all to the surface once more.

During a recent stream, xQc spoke about the recent backlash fellow content creator Atrioc has been facing after he was caught looking at deepfakes of other streamers, including the likes of Pokimane, Maya Higa, and QTCinderella.

The explosive revelation has already led to many of the women involved responding with their own devastating reactions. “Don’t know whether to cry, break stuff, or laugh at this point,” Sweet Anita said, for instance.

Naturally, given the impact of the drama, many of the internet’s biggest personalities have all been chiming in. When going live on January 30, xQc’s chat was quick to remind him of his past controversy with Pokimane before he criticized Atrioc’s situation.

xQc once again took the opportunity to apologize for an incident that went viral in September 2022, where the steamer was called out for ‘jokingly’ sniffing Pokimane’s chair when reacting to some of her content. Admittedly, he now recognizes the impact of this behavior and how it can influence his predominantly younger audience.

“It’s why that day I shouldn’t have made that joke,” he said. “I get it, I don’t have an excuse for it. It was f***ing dumb. The sniffing the f***ing char joke, maybe I shouldn’t have done it.”

During his late September 2022 stream, xQc proceeded to move his camera towards her chair and act as though he was sniffing the bottom of the seat after she left the room. Pokimane’s reaction to the video included the streamer simply yelling out “ew” and laughing off the incident before moving on.

This came shortly after xQc called out sexual harassment on Twitch, which many online said was hypocritical. “I looked off-stream at the sniffing chair joke… Guys, I take it back,” he said. “That was kind of f**ked. It was pretty weird. I was on no sleep. I’m not going to lie to you, it was pretty weird. Don’t emulate that behavior, chat. It was kind of weird.

This issue has been gaining major attention online once again, as many of these female streamers are calling on male streamers as well as other media personalities to help stop the spread of these deepfake sites and the inappropriate content that they include. QTCinderella posted on Twitter that “Being seen ‘naked’ against your will should NOT BE A PART OF THIS JOB.”

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About The Author

Eleni is a Melbourne-based journalist. Having completed her Bachelor's in communication (Journalism) at RMIT University, Eleni is now a senior writer for the Dexerto Australia team. A big Nintendo fan (with a Triforce tattoo to prove it) and a lover of the zombie genre, Eleni covers gaming, entertainment as well as TV and movies for the site. She is also passionate about covering Queer and female representation. Contact Eleni at eleni.thomas@dexerto.com