The American Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo (27) was long considered the most ambitious streamer on Twitch. But in September 2022, a scandal stalled his career. His organization One True King (OTK) launched an internal investigation against him. Now the results are in.
What was the situation with Mizkif? Rinaudo was considered incredibly ambitious. Critics accused him of trying to reach the top of Twitch by any means necessary – he would exploit drama on the streaming platform and ride any popular trend.
In fact, things seemed to be going very well for Mizkif in 2022: he had over 2 million followers, consistently reached more than 30,000 viewers with his streams. However, in September a scandal arose that could potentially jeopardize his career.
A Twitter exchange brings the career to a standstill
What was the scandal about? Mizkif spoke out against gambling on Twitch and even threatened a boycott of the streaming platform with other big streamers. The action seemed successful; Twitch implemented new guidelines. But for Mizkif, it ended fatally:
The casino streamer Tyler “Trainwreck” Niknam accused Mizkif of covering up sexual assaults by his friend and roommate, the streamer Crazyslick.
Meanwhile, the controversial YouTuber Paul “IcePoseidon” Denino, for whom Mizkif had started his career as a cameraman, published old messages from the streamer. In these messages, he used racist terms.
How did Mizkif react? Rather poorly. After the allegations against the streamer became known, clips surfaced in which he downplayed the incident, and he faced heavy criticism. After that, there was first silence around Rinaudo, after 3 weeks he dared to make his comeback on Twitch.
Critics feared that the scandal streamer could simply continue as before without facing any consequences, but this fear was likely unfounded.
What were the consequences of the scandal? The streamer’s career came to a standstill for the time being. Although he made a few attempts on Twitch after his unfortunate comeback stream, he lost viewers and followers with every stream (via sullygnome).
His organization OTK suspended him and launched an internal investigation against Mizkif. His colleague Asmongold, co-founder of the organization, was furious.
Since then, things have been quiet around him. Now the results of the internal investigation are in.
Verdict: Innocent, but still terrible
What is the result of the investigation? In the early hours of January 1st our time, OTK published a statement on Twitter. It states that the independent investigation by a neutral agency found no evidence that Mizkif downplayed or covered up sexual assaults.
What happens next for Mizkif? The outcome of the investigation could be a reason for the streamer to celebrate, but there is a big but: OTK states that Mizkif’s behavior showed that he did not adequately recognize the seriousness of sexual assaults and racist prejudices.
His statements in the comeback stream on October 11th revealed a lack of empathy and ignorance regarding the seriousness of the situation, the statement continues.
While Mizkif regains his status as a member of OTK, he is suspended from his duties as a board member. Additionally, the streamer is to be on “probation” until he can demonstrate that he can uphold the “values of the organization.”
Is a big comeback now on the horizon?
What are the reactions like? On Twitter, users are far from enthusiastic about Mizkif’s return. In the comments under OTK’s statement, clips are posted showing Mizkif downplaying the incidents – exactly the behavior for which there are supposedly no evidence (via Twitter).
There also seem to be doubts about how credible such an internal investigation is, even if conducted by a company outside the organization (via Twitter).
Mizkif himself has not yet commented on the investigation results. However, several Twitter users share screenshots indicating that they were blocked by him after criticizing him (via Twitter).
In a YouTube video, however, Mizkif hinted that he might return to streaming in 2023, likely towards the end of December (via dexerto).
It remains to be seen whether Mizkif will make a big comeback in the new year, or whether his career will be permanently damaged after the last few months.
In the meantime, One True King is already facing the next scandal: In December 2022, serious allegations were made against another founding member:
