The streaming platform Twitch has banned Hassan Bokhari, their own employee responsible for important streamers. Allegedly, he no longer works at Twitch. This followed accusations from a streamer that the man had abused his position of power at Twitch, flaunted confidential information, distributed privileges, and made sexual advances towards her.
This is the employee: Hassan Bokhari is “Account Director of Strategic Partnerships.” He has been employed at Twitch since 2011 (via linkedin).
In his role, he is responsible for recognizing and nurturing potential in streamers. He acts as a contact for streamers who are strategically important for Twitch.
To become a partner on Twitch, one must reach a certain size and meet certain standards: The goal of many smaller streamers on Twitch is to first become partners. Because then you get the opportunity to earn money by streaming. This opens up career prospects.
In his role, Hassan Bokhari was one of the most well-known employees at Twitch: he was one of those legendary figures known as “Twitch Staff”: the gray eminences in the background about whom much is speculated.
He also had his own Twitch channel “Hassan,” with about 5,500 followers.
Twitch investigated allegations of sexual harassment
What is known about his ban: It is publicly known that the Twitch account of the employee was banned.
Twitch practically never provides further details about a ban – unless it concerns sitting US presidents. This has legal reasons: Twitch could be sued for defamation if it publicly states someone was banned for something they did not do. Twitch consistently remains silent about their bans and the reasons for them, as Dr Disrespect painfully knows.
Therefore, the exact reasons for Hassan Bokhari’s ban are not officially known, but there are very clear hints regarding the reasons behind the ban. Already in June, serious accusations from a streamer arose against Bokhari, claiming he had used his position of power to make sexual advances towards her.
According to a statement to ESport journalist Rod Breslau, Twitch stated:
“We take these allegations very seriously and have engaged a reputable firm as a third party to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations. It is our policy to handle information regarding the employment of individual employees confidentially: The investigation is complete and we have acted accordingly on what the investigators found.”
Statement from Twitch
Later, Breslau reported: Sources informed him that Hassan Bokhari is no longer an employee at Twitch.
It seems likely that Bokhari was banned and fired by Twitch due to the accusations against him, even if they do not want to be so explicit about it.
Twitch employee allegedly harassed streamer
These were the allegations: The relatively small streamer Vio (46,200 followers) had recounted her experiences with Bokhari on Twitter in June (via twitter):
- Bokhari boasted of confidential information and Twitch internals in a Discord, complained about partners, and publicly shared direct messages from them
- He abused his position to distribute privileges and favors – for example, to Vio, with whom he sought and entered a sexual affair. He presented himself as someone who could promote a streamer’s career by leveraging his contacts and facilitating partner status “through the back door”
- She had sent him nude photos and asked for absolute discretion. He showed them to her friends with the remark: Finally, he had seen her breasts
- During personal meetings, he became intrusive. The streamer says it was a pattern: She repeatedly said “no,” he persisted, and eventually she gave in because she felt sorry for him and felt pressured. This led to intimate touches, later oral sex, and ultimately to sexual intercourse at Pax West 2015. She felt forced into these situations because he exerted so much pressure
- She says she made mistakes for which she cannot forgive herself. But the man hunted her, manipulated her, and ultimately committed a sexual assault.
The allegations from Vio came amid a wave of sexual scandal that hit streamers and brought down, among others, the WoW guild Method.
The streamer said: Just because Hassan is in such an important position at Twitch, she could no longer remain silent.
Apparently, Twitch took some time to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations and has now acted, well over 2 months after the allegations became public.
In June 2020, a wave of allegations of sexual harassment began: The accusations primarily targeted streamers on the Twitch platform. Complaints also arose that Twitch CEO, Emmet Shear, had not taken these issues seriously enough. It led to calls for his resignation. Therefore, this is a particularly sensitive topic for Twitch:
Twitch CEO is heavily criticized: “Amazon must intervene and fire him”
The title image is from Hassan Bokhari’s Instagram account.
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!
