Streamer Harrison “HarrisonJr” Patrick Stewart had 80,000 followers on Mixer. But after a comment about the game Fortnite, Microsoft terminated his partner contract.
What was the comment? It was a tweet that HarrisonJr has since deleted. The tweet shows a picture of the streamer wearing sunglasses and a mustache, with the sentence: “Come and watch a registered sex offender play Fortnite with 10-year-olds.”
Then followed the link to his stream.
It was probably meant as a joke that he looked like someone who preys on children with the mustache and sunglasses. However, this joke was not well received.
Outraged Reaction – Permaban Demanded
This was the reaction: This “joke” immediately blew up in the streamer’s face. On Twitter, it quickly became clear that this was a topic you don’t joke about. The streamer was promptly reported to Mixer. A permanent ban was demanded for him.
This is how Microsoft reacted: Within a short time, Microsoft responded and revoked his “Verification” badge on Mixer. This effectively ended the partnership between Microsoft and the streamer on Mixer.
A partnership is an important business foundation for any streamer and an economic factor.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Microsoft referred to its rules at Mixer. There is a clear clause in the rules: “It is NEVER okay to talk about sex and individuals under the age of 18 at the same time.”
They take complaints very seriously and respond immediately. They reviewed the case and decided to end the partnership with HarrisonJr.
This is how the streamer reacted: He deleted the tweet when the first criticism came and issued an apology to everyone he had offended. It was meant as a joke, but he acknowledged that it’s something one shouldn’t joke about.
However, this apology sparked negative reactions. On Twitter, others accused him of intentionally crafting the tweet to provoke. The apology was deemed insincere. It was seen as a deliberate provocation to draw attention.
After this first apology fell flat, he later addressed the situation again with a video. The last few days had been tough, and a lot had hit him. He felt he had disappointed his community and the Mixer platform. He takes responsibility for this and deeply regrets it.
He says he shaved his mustache, looked creepy, and wanted to make a joke about it. He is not a sex offender but made jokes about it and thereby became part of the problem.
At the moment, his Mixer channel is empty, all videos are deleted. It reads “I’m sorry.”
Why this is so sensitive with Fortnite: Especially with Fortnite, the topic of “pedophilia” and sex offenders is so delicate because many children play it.
Parents are concerned that sex offenders might try to engage with children through voice chat in the game without parents noticing.In September 2018, there were investigations by the FBI in the USA that games like Fortnite or Minecraft were used by sex offenders to contact children. Here, 24 people were arrested in New Jersey.
As early as April 2018, horrified parents in England raised the alarm:
