The Real Reason Hasan Piker Might Quit Streaming On Twitch

It's no secret that Twitch streamers who hit a certain threshold of popularity endure a great deal of harassment. Pokimane and Neekolul have both shared some of the incredibly toxic messages they've received, while others have chosen to try and ignore the trolls with the hope that they will simply go away.

Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker is one of the most watched streamers on Twitch (per Twitch Tracker). He has over 1.6 million followers and regularly streams to tens of thousands of viewers. He got his start as a political commentator for "The Young Turks," A YouTube based news commentary program that primarily focuses on current events. He's regularly covered political events on stream, such as the violent Washington DC Protests that took place last year, so it's no surprise that his chat can get heated. Still, it seems like the negativity is getting to be too much for him. In a recent stream, he admitted that he might leave Twitch due to the severe harassment he and his family have experienced.

A clip from the stream posted on YouTube shows Piker talking about the issues he has experienced and why he's thinking about leaving Twitch. "I'm very close to quitting streaming for a little bit ... It doesn't feel good when I stream anymore." When the chat asked why, he pointed to a particular comment that read "cause you don't need money ... gg rich man ez."

Piker expanded on this, detailing that it had less to do with the comments themselves and more to do with how constant the harassment has become. "I don't like subjecting you guys to my anger," he explained, "but I'm constantly on the defensive and I feel like I blow up on people regularly. Because I just see everyone as agitational. I see everyone as looking for deeper meaning in every f***ing innocuous, random action that I engage in."

It was clear midway through the video that Piker was irritated, both by the persecution and the people in his chat who didn't seem to understand how difficult these harassers are to deal with. "There's just an endless sea of f***ing weirdos who track every single thing I do. They dox me. They f***ing send SWAT teams to my f****ing house. I'm sick and tired of it. They harass my family members."

Piker closed the stream by explaining that he's aware of how privileged he is to have his community and to have attained this degree of success, but that his mental health has suffered behind the scenes.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.