Before 29-year-old Kevin Bongers found success as orangemorange on Twitch, he aimed for a career in the police. His streaming hobby was apparently ridiculed there. Now Bongers has reached out to those who did not believe in him back then.
Who is orangemorange? Behind the name is Kevin Bongers from Bergisch Gladbach. Since July 2015, Bongers has been active on Twitch, and he now has over half a million followers, streaming to an average of 3,700 viewers (via sullygnome).
Bongers had early successes with battle royales H1Z1 and Fortnite, but he broke through with roleplay in GTA Online. orangemorange ranks 8th among the most-watched German-speaking channels in GTA over the past 30 days (via sullygnome).
In 2022, Bongers began to show more gambling in the slots category on Twitch. In May, he signed a deal with the disreputable online casino Stake and became one of the most-watched gambling streamers worldwide (via sullygnome).
Bongers now used his success to show off to a former classmate who had apparently mocked Bongers’ streams back then.
Streamer wants to show former bully his wealth
How was the streamer bullied? In a tweet from November 22, Bongers wrote that a classmate named Jan had mocked his streams with others from the police course. One sentence stuck with Bongers to this day: “Keep streaming, you joker.”
At that time, Bongers did not understand that the comments from others constituted outright bullying, the streamer said. He added in a comment that the time had been hell for him (via Twitter).
In the same tweet, Bongers published a screenshot of two messages he had sent to his former tormentor: one from March 2022 and one from November 22.
What did Bongers write to his bully? In his first message in March, Bongers recalled a voice message that he allegedly received almost exactly two years earlier from his bully’s girlfriend. In it, she predicted that his streaming career would be over in two years.
Bongers wanted to use this anniversary to prove the opposite to his former tormentors: He is now a millionaire, will soon move into his own apartment, and lives in sunny Madeira – he is doing well.
The classmate apparently never responded to the message. However, that did not stop Bongers from sending him an “update” on November 22: he is now on the way to his third million.
Bongers thanked for the motivation that the mean comments had given him and added: “Hope you’re having fun on shift work, think of me when you get up in the morning and don’t feel like it.”
Bongers then added a message to his fans: Believe in yourselves and keep going (via Twitter).
Show-off tweet backfires: “Very uncomfortable”
How was the action received? On Twitter, users had little understanding of Bongers’ need to prove himself to his former bully.
In a seemingly more sympathetic comment, it was stated that Bongers probably hadn’t dealt with his past. While the classmates’ comments were not okay, the streamer should move on.
Other Twitter users were less forgiving: They criticized the methods by which the streamer had acquired his money. The former classmate at least did an honest job while Bongers drove his viewers into gambling addiction.
The need for Bongers to profile himself this way with his classmate was already “very uncomfortable” (via Twitter).
Even the boastful tone of the messages did not go over well. The action reflected pride, which is known to go before a fall, was “pathetic”, and showed that Bongers was not better than his former tormentors (via Twitter).
Apparently, the streamer did not consider when posting that some of his viewers or people who might randomly see the tweet could also be working shifts and could feel addressed by the derogatory statement (via Twitter).
How did Bongers respond to the criticism? The streamer explained that his messages were of course meant to be provocative. However, he did not mean to imply that a person was worth more simply because he earned more (via Twitter).
Whether Bongers received a response this time is unknown.
Not for the first time is orangemorange criticized for how he earns his money. His casino deal had already upset many. When the streamer also announced in October that he would offer sports betting during the football World Cup in Qatar, the criticism was so great that Bongers turned down the deal.
