The streamer Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo learned from IcePoseidon how to become a Twitch streamer, one of the greatest trolls of all time. For years, Mizkif built a platform by ruthlessly following every trend, calculating coolly, and being “one of the boys”. Even when he was publicly shamed for allegedly covering up a sexual assault, he still made jokes about it. That’s all over now. Apparently, he has realized that this is about his career.
Who is Mizkif and why is he considered so cynical?
- Mizkif was previously the cameraman for IcePoseidon, one of the most controversial and toughest trolls in the history of Twitch. Nothing was sacred to him.
- As a streamer, Mizkif also repeatedly stood out with a dry and cynical manner. Once he stated in response to the accusation that he only streams with attractive women to increase his views, that he deserved respect for that. It is incredibly difficult to bring out interesting content from them.
- Painlessly copied Mizkif successful trends like Ludwig’s Subathon, and happily took with him any drama he could find.
Mizkif repeatedly got into conflicts with other streamers but was for a long time one of the rising stars of the platform, also because he is friends with many streamers, belongs to the “Texas” clique, and became a founding member of the group OTK along with Asmongold.
Because female streamers repeatedly praised him and said that he is a nice guy, it was implied that he doesn’t take all of this seriously, that he is basically a good guy.
Mizkif apparently received a “broadcast ban” from Asmongold and OTK
What was the turning point? In a conflict with the casino streamer Trainwreck, he accused Mizkif of covering up a sexual assault of a female streamer by one of his former roommates.
Mizkif denied this but disappeared for quite a while from Twitch. He did not follow a ban, but his organization “OTK” seemed to have told him it was better for him to go underground.
They even had a secret crisis meeting, where Mizkif and Asmongold discussed with Trainwreck and xQc how they could manage damage control to get out of this situation unscathed.
In the months that followed, an internal investigation by a law firm was to take place against him: Until then, as was apparently the gentleman’s agreement, it would be better not to hear anything from Mizkif until the dust settled.
He is evolving into a moral authority on Twitch:
Mizkif reappears on Twitch with a terrible comeback stream in the middle of the break
What went wrong: In October, still in the middle of his break, Mizkif was suddenly seen back on Twitch. He just couldn’t stand it without Twitch anymore.
In a “comeback” stream, he made some comments that were seen as alluding to him not taking the accusations seriously and dismissing them as nonsense that “his fans” would forgive him.
But that was not the case: The stream was heavily criticized, the comeback stream was subsequently deleted, and Mizkif has since disappeared again into obscurity.
The professional troll of Twitch must now sound remorseful and innocent
What is he doing now? At the beginning of 2023, the situation has somewhat resolved:
- The law firm has exonerated Mizkif.
- Mizkif has thus received the green light from his organization, OTK, to stream on Twitch again.
- But because of his missteps, especially the comeback stream, he is now only a mere foot soldier of OTK, the leadership privileges have been temporarily revoked.
But Mizkif is back on air, but has to strike a completely different, unfamiliar tone. The eternal scoffer now has to be serious.
A professional, remorseful apology
In a YouTube video, he innocently looks into the camera in a blue sweater with his blue eyes: The eternal clown, who takes nothing seriously, now has to swear how sorry he is and how terrible his comeback stream was. He claims it was lacking sensitivity and that he is terribly sorry.
If people are angry with him, he understands that, but he loves the job and streaming and hopes that people will stick around.
What are the reactions? Currently, the reactions are somewhat more positive. But some are already noting that it is a drastic turnaround compared to his previous behavior. Whether that is authentic or not can only be answered by Mizkif himself.
But one cannot expect much more than him promising to improve, it says under the YouTube video.
Also in the comments, people agree that the comeback stream in October was terrible and cringeworthy.
What’s behind it: If you know Mizkif, the video seems staged. As if he had previously had a PR consultation,
- what he should wear
- how he should look into the camera
- what should be seen in the background
- how unshaven he should appear
This all seems to have emerged collectively. Apparently, someone made it very clear to him how serious the situation is and that it is about whether he remains “viable” and can stay in the OTK group (with all the lucrative projects and partnerships) or whether he will become an outcast, with whom no one wants to work on Twitch anymore.
Surely Mizkif has felt the consequences of his actions in recent months and that he was off-air for months and thus experienced the withdrawal of love and money from fans and friends must have hurt him.
But the ignoble role he played in the aftermath of the sexual assault remains unmentioned.
Here’s how the scandal unfolded:
