Twitch streamer Alinity is correcting the record regarding allegations that she said a racial slur on-stream. During a recent Apex Legends livestream, Alinity tells squadmate Bubssn to come into her Twitch chat so that she can gift them a subscription to her channel. She then says, "Nick your next Prime is in this channel," which viewers misinterpreted as her saying a slur.
Alinity believes that viewers misheard her as a result of her accent while rushing to speak. On-stream, Alinity clarified that she said specifically said, "But Nick your next prime is in this channel." Nick being Alinity's teammate Bubssn, who was in her Apex Legends squad at the time. And Prime referring to his free Twitch subscription provided as part of Amazon Prime. She later elaborated on Twitter, stating that, "I mispronounce and mumble words," as her first language isn't English. "I didn't call my teammate a slur."
Twitch has historically aggressively banned channels where there's been some ambiguity to whether a slur was said on-stream. Twitch streamer Pink Ward was banned for 30 days due to Twitch believing he said a racial slur. Pink Ward disputed the ban, clarifying what he said. But despite his appeal, Twitch upheld what was potentially an undeserved ban. It implied that Twitch was moving towards zero-tolerance policy even in ambiguous situations.
However, Twitch has also shown movement towards being more patient and understanding of the topic, as well. Twitch streamer Tfue was accused of saying a racial slur back in April. He too received a 30-day ban, despite claiming he said the word "Idiot" and was misheard. Tfue was then unsuspended following an appeal from his contracted esports organization FaZe. In another example, Twitch's now ex-most popular streamer Ninja explicitly said a slur while singing a rap song. Twitch did not ban Ninja, instead allowing him to make an apology.
Alinity has received intense scrutiny, escalating into harassment, over the past month. Alinity was investigated by the Saskatoon Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after throwing her cat over her head during a stream. The investigation found no malicious intent on Alinity's part. But for a vocal minority of the Twitch community, that doesn't matter. These new allegations are simply another opportunity to create a controversy surrounding the public figure.
Twitch has yet to comment on this latest controversy.