Twitch influencer and conservationist Maya Higa has announced the date that she will make her return to the online streaming platform. Maya had previously announced that she would be “stepping away from my online platforms indefinitely” following controversy about her potential involvement in covering up the alleged sexual assault of streamer Adrianah in 2020.
Maya first rose to fame on Twitch after clips of her showing off her pet hawk on stream went viral, leading her to begin making animals and conservation a regular topic of her streams. This unique format let Maya stand out from other streamers on the platform, helping her grow her audience and become one of the bigger names on Twitch. Maya and Twitch streamer Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo dated briefly before a public breakup in 2021, and it is around this time that the two are claimed to have helped cover up the alleged sexual assault of Adrianah by CrazySlick, another popular streamer.
In a brief Tweet, Maya announced that she will be returning to Twitch on November 16 and thanked her fans for being patient while she took a break from streaming. Maya’s departure from Twitch in September followed the growing controversy surrounding her, Mizkif, Adrianah, and CrazySlick. In a statement posted on TwitLonger on September 25, Maya said she supports Adrianah and condemned the actions of CrazySlick, then apologized for involving herself in the situation and announced her break from online platforms. The November 16 stream will mark the first time Maya has done a live stream since posting her statement.
Responses to Maya’s Tweet were generally positive, with many of the streamer’s fans expressing excitement about her return to Twitch. Other responses to the post were decidedly less enthusiastic about Maya resuming her streaming career, with some responses calling out her perceived unwillingness to speak up for Adrianah. Whether posters were excited for Maya to get behind the camera again or just hoping she’d stay away for good, over a thousand people had already chimed in to share their take on Maya’s announcement in just over 8 hours since it was first shared.
Maya is just one of many streamers to have found themselves making negative headlines lately, and it remains to be seen whether her Twitch viewership will recover when she returns to streaming. Whether streamers are spouting angry hot takes for views or airing dirty laundry about fellow Twitch stars, controversy seems to be a hit with many viewers on the platform. While this instance of Twitch drama with Maya is of a far more serious nature than many of the headline-grabbing events on the platform, it’s clear from the response to her Tweet that some viewers will be willing to look past the allegations just to see what happens next on stream.