xQc defends iShowSpeed over racism allegations: “I know what it’s like”
Twitch/xQc/YouTubeTwitch star Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel has stepped in support of popular YouTuber iShowSpeed after he was accused of being racist to a Chinese fan at the FIFA World Cup.
iShowSpeed was met with heavy criticism following his interaction with a fan at the World Cup where the YouTuber finally got a chance to see his soccer idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.
During the stream, Speed confronted a fan and kept repeating the Japanese greeting “konnichiwa,” despite the stranger insisting he was in fact Chinese.
This was met with heavy backlash online and accusations of racism, prompting Speed to issue a video response where he truly believed the fan was Japanese and tried to reply to him with “a nickname they call me in China.”
As the internet continues to debate Speed’s intentions, xQc has revealed his thoughts on the situation and how he understands what his fellow streamer is going through.
xQc calls iShowSpeed racism allegations “lame”
Speaking with his viewers, xQc explained that he has experienced what iShowSpeed is going through after being labeled a racist.
“I know what it’s like to be labeled as a racist from out of context things,” he said. “It’s f**king lame.”
While Lengyel noted he didn’t know the extent of the Speed situation, he noted that mainstream media had branded him a racist which ended up resulting in family issues.
“My family thought I was racist, because of some f**king article!” he exclaimed. “In my city, I was front page. I was this homophobic racist guy. I had to get out of that.”
Earlier this year, xQc blasted Forbes for claiming he had racist, homophobic, and sexually explicit content controversies in the past – all of which the streamer has denied.
So far, iShowSpeed has yet to face any consequences from YouTube for his actions on stream, so it seems like the Google-owned platform is siding with him despite the backlash.