Zack Hoyt, who goes by Asmongold and ZackRawrr online, is once again at the center of controversy. The content creator, who gained prominence by streaming World of Warcraft, has mocked survivors of hurricane Katrina, and defended the use of certain slurs to his audience. Now, recent comments from Hoyt regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza have renewed widespread criticism of the creator and resulted in Twitch banning his channel.
In the wake of an incendiary livestream on Monday, other creators have spoken out against Hoyt’s comments on Palestine, while Hoyt’s own business partners have attested to the dangerous nature of his rhetoric. On Wednesday, Hoyt himself released an apology video to his viewers. But the incident still resulted in action by Twitch — here’s why.
Why did Asmongold get suspended from Twitch?
Twitch typically does not confirm the specific reason behind a ban. However, we know the streaming platform banned Hoyt’s channel the day after a stream where he spoke about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Palestinian people. When asked for comment on the ban, a Twitch representative said, “We take enforcement action when there are violations of our community guidelines, including our hateful conduct policy and other rules.”
On his Monday livestream, Hoyt said of the Palestinian people dying in Gaza, “I don’t give a fuck. They’re terrible people. It’s not even a question.” In the same rant, he described Palestinians as an “inferior culture.” Online, people called on Twitch to ban the channel. On Tuesday, Hoyt’s alternate Zackrawrr channel, where he made the comments, was deactivated. At time of publication, the channel was still deactivated and sources familiar with the matter reported Hoyt received a two-week ban. His original channel remains active but he has not used it to stream since June 2023.
How did streamers react to Asmongold’s comments on Palestine?
At the time of Hoyt’s livestream, a number of outlets had reported a finding by U.N. aid agencies that Israel threatened to starve out northern Gaza. The reporting came as Israel continued to bomb northern Gaza and Lebanon, an offensive that has led to the death of 40,000 Palestinians in the past 10 months, according to the Gaza health ministry. Earlier this year, a U.N. Special Rapporteur said there were “reasonable grounds” to formally label the assault as a genocide.
Hoyt’s comments provoked a combination of responses. Some touched on the insensitivity of the comments given current events, while others clowned on Hoyt, who is known for streaming from an unkempt bedroom covered with trash.
“What’s sad is millions of Americans actually believe this about black and brown people outside of the global north,” Daniel Ahmad, a frequent commentator in the game space, said on X in response to the video . (Ahmad’s comment was liked more than 9,900 times.) Another person replied, “‘Inferior culture’ says the guy who doesn’t even wipe his ass.”
The nature of the comments inspired even those close to Hoyt to speak out. In addition to streaming, Hoyt is a co-founder of the media company One True King (OTK) and PC seller Starforge Systems. Tips Out, chief operating officer of OTK, responded to Hoyt’s comments on Tuesday, speaking as the son of Syrian immigrants about his personal history of experiencing prejudice growing up in the United States.
To many who heard Zack’s comments, the language he used, whether intended or not, wreaked of the same dehumanization that plagued their ancestors, their grandparents, and in some cases, their families today. It is the same language used to justify wanton violence, genocide, and the destruction of our universal brotherhood. It is the same language used to brush off a video of a Palestinian woman and child burning alive as a “price of war.”
The following day, the official OTK account on X announced that Hoyt would be “stepping away from his roles” at OTK and other affiliated businesses.
“OTK denounces all forms of discrimination and violence, and that sort of behavior cannot be tolerated,” the account said. “Yesterday evening, we spoke with Zack and he will be stepping away from his roles at OTK and our affiliate companies Starforge, Mythic, and Mad Mushroom.”
Has Asmongold apologized for the comments?
On Wednesday, Hoyt shared an apology video on YouTube responding to his comments. In the video, he announced that he would be stepping down from his leadership positions at OTK and Starforge Systems, and expressed remorse at the impact of his comments.
“I look back at some of the things that I’ve said and done over the past two years, and I don’t think that I’ve been wrong about everything obviously right, but there have been ways that I’ve communicated and ways that I’ve acted, that are indefensible. Looking back on it, it’s just disgusting,” he said.
Some online applauded Hoyt for taking accountability in his apology, though it’s still too early to see what long-term impact this could have on his work, or if Hoyt will remain apologetic. Within hours of the YouTube message, the streamer followed up with a Reddit post explaining his apology to his viewerbase. “I’m not changing anything other than trying to be more positive and less mean-spirited,” he wrote, in a statement that also opened with the R-slur.
