Girlfriend
  • News
  • Beauty
  • Fashion
  • Life and Advice
  • Entertainment
  • Role Model Search
  • Dolly Doctor
  • Video
Girlfriend
  • News
  • Beauty
  • Fashion
  • Life and Advice
  • Entertainment
  • Role Model Search
  • Dolly Doctor
  • Video
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment

Ninja Doubles Down On His Tone Deaf Comments About Female Gamers

Actually Ninja, boys and girls can be friends without anything romantic. - by Julian Rizzo-Smith
  • 27 Jan 2021

Ninja is a video game streamer on Twitch with more than 16 million followers. With that kind of following, you’d assume he’d use it for good in 2021, educate his fans on appropriate COVID-19 measures, promote Black voices, or even, idk, ban racists.

WATCH: Lady Gaga is a HUGE gamer!

But, despite his gigantic influence, the 29-year-old internet persona says it is “not [his] job to teach kids about racism and White Privilege [and how to treat women respectfully.]” Excuse us when we say, this really Ain’t It.

ninja View Profile
View Post on Instagram

In case you missed it, back in 2018, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, 29, told Polygon that “I don’t play with female gamers.”

The reason behind that decision, he claimed, was because some fans would ship him and female streamers together or even send abuse to them.

Instead of educating his audience about how that kind of behaviour is misogynistic and offensive, Ninja opted for an easier solution: omitting female gamers from joining him on-camera on his Twitch streams entirely. Now when he plays with women, it’s only in a group setting.   

“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.”  

Cut to this week when, in a new interview with The New York Times, Ninja has doubled down on his tone-deaf comments, continuing to perpetuate a false narrative that boys and girls can’t be friends—Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson, Toph and Sokka, and Lizzo and Harry Styles say 🙋‍♀️.

“Of course a guy and a girl can be friends without getting intimate,” Ninja began to say, before derailing, “but it’s like, temptation, man. Actually, I don’t like that word, because I have control of myself and 100 percent respect for my relationship, but—I don’t know how to word it.”

ninja View Profile
View Post on Instagram

“I know people are going to potentially take this now like, ‘Oh, he can’t trust himself, blah blah blah.’ Dude, no. But when you’re not “Joe” anymore, who can have a drink with his co-worker and no one gives a s**t—I don’t have that luxury.”

“I still stand by not having a lot of alone time with a woman, in general, if you are a married man. I mean, they could be your best friend, that’s totally cool. But if I randomly start playing with a woman no one knows, people are going to start talking. So if I am going to play with female gamers, I do it with a big group so it’s not that one-on-one interaction.”

In a sense, we get it. When you’re someone with a 16 million following, it can be hard to live a normal life. But, when your audience literally attacks female streamers for merely existing on the same screen as you and laughing at a joke, it might be time to educate your audience. And sure, it might not be your “job,” but it’s an opportunity and for someone with that big of an influence, the right thing to do. 

Then, when asked about being accountable for his fans’ actions, Ninja added, “If [a kid is] gaming and their first interaction with racism is one of their friends saying the N-word and they have no idea what it is—what if it was on my stream?

“Is it my job to have this conversation with this kid? No, because the first thing that’s going on in my head is, ‘this kid is doing this on purpose to troll me. If someone says a racial slur on someone else’s stream, it can potentially get that streamer banned. It’s awful, but that’s the first thing I think of.”

And, fittingly, Twitter is already calling him out for this view. 

“No, it's not his job to do it,” added one Twitter user, “but if you have a huge following and you stay in the public eye long enough, there is an unspoken expectation to use your platform for a bit of good and adopt some "noble causes" to support. You can choose not to but the public won't stop bringing it up.”

As one Twitter user puts it best, “His job description is literally called "influencer.” As such of course it's your job to cultivate a community without bigotry and hate speech. The bigger your platform, the bigger your responsibility too.”

  • News
  • Entertainment

Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35% -

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35%

Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35% -

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35%

Recommended to you

Sophie Monk drops another epic Love Island trailer
Watch 1:00

Sophie Monk drops another epic Love Island trailer

{headline}

{headline}

How to live your best life – right now

How to live your best life – right now

A crazy number of couples are breaking up over video games

A crazy number of couples are breaking up over video games

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker tie the knot

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker tie the knot

Ayesha Madon will lead a new generation of Aussie teens on Heartbreak High

Ayesha Madon will lead a new generation of Aussie teens on Heartbreak High

{headline}

{headline}

The Stranger Things 4 trailer has turned our day upside down

The Stranger Things 4 trailer has turned our day upside down

How to put a modern spin on these heavenly Bridgerton fashion looks

How to put a modern spin on these heavenly Bridgerton fashion looks

The official trailer for Conversations With Friends just dropped and we're not OK

The official trailer for Conversations With Friends just dropped and we're not OK

{headline}

{headline}

Release the AUX! Spotify is allowing you to blend your playlists with mates

Release the AUX! Spotify is allowing you to blend your playlists with mates

Why we won’t see Dylan O’Brien in the Teen Wolf movie

Why we won’t see Dylan O’Brien in the Teen Wolf movie

Benee's world domination: Supalonely singer takes off on tour

Benee's world domination: Supalonely singer takes off on tour

Millie Bobby Brown's complete dating history has turned our world upside down

Millie Bobby Brown's complete dating history has turned our world upside down

10 of the best female-founded podcasts you should be listening to

10 of the best female-founded podcasts you should be listening to

Why Jaguar Jonze is the Aussie musician and advocate to watch

Why Jaguar Jonze is the Aussie musician and advocate to watch

Carla from Bankstown on your must-have Mardi Gras accessories

Carla from Bankstown on your must-have Mardi Gras accessories

Girlfriend
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Practical Parenting
  • That’s Life
  • Who

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • New Idea food
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • 7plus
  • 7News
  • Sunrise
  • Starts at 60
  • The West Australian
  • Perth Now
  • 7mate
  • 7Sport
  • Hard to Find
© 2022 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts.If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Get more from Girlfriend

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35% -

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to our sister mag and save up to 35%