A former suicidal viewer thanks his favorite streamer – and is severely insulted by him.
Many people struggle with depression and some have toyed with the thought of suicide. It is always nice to hear when people can free themselves from this burden and find joy in life – or so one would think. However, a streamer from HiRez, the developer company of SMITE, saw things differently. He insulted a formerly suicidal person in the strongest terms.
What happened?
The streamer Brandan Nance, better known as DMBrandon, was streaming some games of SMITE on Twitch again. Occasionally, some users donate a bit of money to him, usually along with a funny phrase or a greeting that is then displayed on the stream. A viewer who donated $5 added the following message:
“I tried to kill myself, and after being discharged from the clinic, I discovered your videos and SMITE became one of the positive things in my life. Thank you.”
However, DMBrandon did not feel honored by the message and reacted extremely critically. “There are many streamers who would love to hear such a message. But I will just call you an asshole.”
Then the chat practically exploded and DMBrandon elaborated further to justify his words – at least to some extent.
“It is a selfish, stupid thing to do. (…) If you don’t like my opinion, then you can look for someone else to watch who will tell you that suicide is okay. Go and f*** yourself, kid.”
The core message from Nance can likely be summarized as follows: If you take your own life while there is at least one other person who cares about you, then you are a selfish person.
You can listen to his complete remarks in English here:
Then what always happens on the internet occurred: A shitstorm was unleashed on Reddit and heads were to roll – which promptly happened. Nance himself stated that he was leaving HiRez and apologized for losing control during the stream.
Shortly thereafter, Nance posted a much more extensive apology, in which he explained his behavior, although it should not be considered a justification. He himself has a difficult relationship with the topic of death and suicide, as his sister was killed in a robbery.
In conclusion, he says: “I often tell people that they should not have an opinion if they have not engaged with a topic. This time, I was the ignorant one.”
HiRez, the makers behind SMITE, emphasized that the opinion expressed by Nance does not correspond to the company’s philosophy and that they take matters such as suicide, depression, and mental illness very seriously. Following this, HiRez donated to the “American Foundation of Suicide Prevention” – a foundation for suicide prevention.
Mein-MMO says: This has certainly spiraled out of control. Even if there are many different opinions on the topic of suicide, one should still approach the subject with more caution, especially when speaking to someone who has suffered from it. Although DMBrandon’s reaction is much more understandable when you learn about his own life story, his behavior was simply inappropriate.
At least two positive aspects have emerged from this whole story: More attention has been drawn to this important taboo topic and the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention can look forward to donations.
