Pokimane Wants xQc To Stop
Imane "Pokimane" Anys has just called out streamers promoting gambling on their channels, including Felix "xQc" Lengyel and Tyler "Trainwrecks" Niknam. Specifically, she has questioned the morality of streamers promoting "sketchy gambling sites" on their feeds and suggested that they reconsider these kinds of sponsorships.
In a recent stream, Poki argued that streamers big enough to receive sponsorships from a gambling site are likely "already [at] multi-millionaire" status and have "so many options available" to generate income. Pokimane urged people in these privileged positions, including xQc and Trainwrecks, to think about what they willingly participate in, as well as to consider if these sponsorships are "ethically or morally maybe just not worth it."
To Pokimane's point, xQc actually owned up to his questionable gambling behavior earlier this month. He said that he "get[s] addicted to things very, very easily" and that he feels like his "brain is kind of going crazy." With that in mind, he planned to slow down on the gambling in future streams. However, his response to Poki's comments still defended gambling streams.
He argued that Pokimane's comments apply to "literally everything," because people are always trying to hustle and earn more money. To him, it didn't make sense to say "you shouldn't go for more than you already have." After all, the point of sponsorships is for streamers to earn money from advertising the sponsor's products. xQc said that he might as well stop seeking sponsorships or participating in "paid events," if the whole argument is that he should be happy with what he has.
Poki also has something to say about Trainwrecks
Meanwhile, Trainwrecks defended his gambling habits on Twitter, saying he "tell[s] people not to gamble very often," even though he still does it on stream.
Pokimane pointed out how that this gambling trend and the controversy surrounding it has turned Trainwrecks into a kind of "villain." She also argued that this turn of events isn't entirely his fault, but the way he has reacted has fanned the flames more than may be necessary.
"I don't even think people want to hate him or want to hate on him. I just think they want to hear him acknowledge the other side of the take," she said. "If he just said, 'I understand all the negatives of gambling ... but I just decide that, like, it's worthwhile for me,' I think people would respect that a lot more." A Reddit thread dedicated to her response agreed that Trainwrecks has a reputation for making himself into the victim.
Poki later clarified that her criticism on gambling was more of a rule for "multi-millionaire" streamers who can afford to be more choosy with sponsorships. She wondered why, out of all the sponsorships available, would someone pick one of the most controversial and potentially harmful ones. Following such heavy criticism, viewers will have to wait to see if the gambling trend continues going strong or tapers off.