Move over “67,” the real word of the year is “swag.”
No one thought the year 2025 would have Justin Bieber’s name written all over it. As long-time Justin Bieber fans, we thought it would be a few more years until we heard from our ‘Boyfriend’ again. Just imagine our surprise when we had over 40 new songs in just the span of a few months. With the surprise release of SWAG and SWAG II this year, Justin Bieber truly proved he’s “standing on business” now more than ever.
“Swag, Swag, Swag, On You”
Chillin’ by the fire while we eatin’ fondue. Bieber Fever never truly left our system, and 2025 brought it back full force. There’s no talking about this year’s most successful albums without talking about SWAG. We knew Justin was cooking up some exciting new music for us when he started sprinkling posts of himself in the studio with collaborator Eddie Benjamin throughout his Instagram page. Obviously, fans were overjoyed, but we really didn’t know when the new music was dropping. It could be 2025, or it could be 2027. Justin is known for teasing his fans and the media, so it really was anyone’s guess. One morning, we woke up, and black posters and billboards all over the world sported the word “swag,” and we knew then that new music was on its way!
The next morning, SWAG was on our Spotify pages, and we immediately hit play. All that to say, SWAG was one of our favorite releases of the year! Just a few months later, Justin made the most unexpected announcement. SWAG had a bubblegum pink sister album, SWAG II, and it was dropping just a few months later. Could this year get any better!?
Justin Is Standing On Business
With SWAG II being one of our top albums on Spotify Wrapped this year, we can confidently say that Justin Bieber dominated 2025. This year, Justin really stepped into his R&B sound, masterfully defining the genre on hit songs like ‘YUKON,’ ‘WALKING AWAY,’ and ‘DAISIES.’ He even gave us a new all-time favorite song in the melodic and emotional ‘DEVOTION.’
Justin masterfully turned this year on its head and claimed it as his own. From iconic, and admittedly hilarious, paparazzi run-ins in public (at the beach, mind you) to showcasing his love for his growing family, we’re so glad we get to be a part of his success in 2025.
Although some fans had little expectations for Justin Bieber this year, he clearly proved everyone wrong. As the year closes out, we have a lot of high expectations for Justin in 2026. We are hoping to expect even more Twitch livestreams and livestream concerts as well as new products from his fashion and lifestyle brand, SKYLRK. We’ve got those slippers on our Christmas wish-lists already, and if anyone can turn us into Twitch users, it’s Justin Bieber.
But, most excitingly, Justin is headlining Coachella next year! We haven’t seen Justin perform live since the Justice Tour, so we’re already counting down the days until he’s on that stage in the desert. You can probably find us on the barricade, screaming and crying to every word. Even after Coachella, we’re crossing our fingers that Justin will head out on his own solo world tour. He’s mentioned a few times that he’s ready to do a handful of live performances again, and even if we have to travel across the world, we will be there to support him.
Did you listen to SWAG and SWAG II as much as we did this year? Are you excited for what 2026 has in store for Justin Bieber? Let us know by buzzing with us in the comments below or by finding us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
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Despite Twitch’s ban on all gambling-related content, popular streamer xQc may be poised to make a bold move by broadcasting gambling content from Kick on Twitch, made possible by the Counter-Strike StarLadder Budapest Major exemption from the rules.
xQc Plans to Circumvent Twitch’s Rules
Recently, Twitch agreed to allow the Counter-Strike StarLadder Budapest Major to air, even though the Rollbit crypto casino is one of its primary partners. Tournament organizers are committed to avoiding any verbal references to the brand during broadcasts, limiting its presence to physical branding only.
xQc has hinted that he might use this situation as a chance to bring Stake back into his Twitch content, which is something he hasn’t been able to do since the platform’s gambling ban. He believes that keeping the operator’s logo off the on-screen overlay could allow him to circumvent Twitch’s rules. On Thursday, he outlined a plan to hang a large Stake banner behind him in his room while streaming slot gameplay.
If he goes through with it, creators in the gambling space will be watching closely to see how Twitch responds. With more than 12 million followers, xQc ranks among the platform’s top ten creators, and if his approach works, others may be tempted to attempt similar methods to work around Twitch’s strict policies. Some social media users have even speculated that the platform might be open to relaxing its rules due to recent drops in advertising revenue.
It’s Been Several Years Since Twitch Banned Gambling
Twitch banned the streaming of certain crypto gambling websites back in 2022. The ban targeted sites offering slots, roulette, and dice games that were not licensed in the US or in “other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection.” Concerns over potential harm to users were cited as the main reason behind the Amazon-owned platform’s decision.
The policy change followed threats from several of the platform’s top streamers to quit if Twitch did not revise its rules on gambling streams. Twitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gambling on the platform has long been a point of controversy, even before the ban happened. Тhe company had been facing criticism from both streamers and users for failing to control popular gambling categories that could pose risks, especially to younger audiences.Stake.com, Rollbit.com, and Duelbits.com were all websites that came under the initial ban. However, over the past few years, more and more online casinos have also been added to the list.
Many Republicans are blaming social media for the murder of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk since it’s been revealed the suspect engraved internet meme messages on the bullets and used Discord to allegedly confess to the killing. And now a high-profile congressman wants some of the executives from various tech platforms to testify about it all.
James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released a statement Wednesday calling for the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit to testify at a committee hearing on October 8, 2025.
“The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot. In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence,” Comer said in a statement published online.
“To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes.”
Discord told Gizmodo in a statement on Wednesday that its CEO would be testifying.
“We have received the Committee’s invitation and welcome the opportunity to testify,” a spokesperson told Gizmodo. “We continuously engage with policymakers on these critical issues and look forward to continuing this important dialogue next month.”
Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, while doing one of his debate-style talks on campus. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Utah, turned himself in to authorities late the next day after his parents reportedly recognized him from security footage released by the FBI.
The bullet cartridges found near the scene of the crime were found to have messages engraved, one of many signs that the suspect was plugged in to internet trolling culture.
The messages reportedly included:
“Notices bulges OWO what’s this?”
“Hey fascist! Catch!” [Symbols that include an up arrow, right arrow, and three down arrows]
Robinson also allegedly talked with friends on Discord, which is presumably why Comer wants to bring the CEO of the company in for a hearing. But it’s unclear why he’s also calling in executives who oversee companies like Twitch, Steam, and Reddit.
The shooter’s exact politics have yet to be determined, but the indictment alleges Robinson said Kirk was full of “hate.” The indictment also suggests that Robinson’s messages were just a way to perform as a troll rather than an attempt to make an earnest statement.
But that’s not going to stop legislators from insisting that something about platforms like Discord is in some way responsible for Kirk’s death, no matter how ridiculous that idea may be.
Reddit, Twitch, and Valve (the owner of Steam) didn’t respond to questions emailed on Wednesday about whether their respective CEOs would be attending the hearing. Gizmodo will update this article when we hear back.
That’s a tough one because I love all of them. I would say a New Jersey sub from this institution called Sorrento’s around Freehold. A Number 14, which is a combination, I believe, of like Number 7 and Number 12. [Eds. note: Sorrento’s menu says the Number 14 is a combo of a Number 5 and a Number 12 called the Pig Special.] So an Italian sub from a real New Jersey institution, and if not that, then a Wawa Club sandwich.
I really appreciate how specific that was. Thank you. First video game you ever bought?
I pirated a lot because I was in Turkey growing up, so it was virtually impossible for us to get like a lot of video games. As far as purchase, it could be Metal Gear Solid 2 for the PlayStation 2, or I guess a Pokémon game.
So let’s rewind 34 years. You were born in New Jersey. You spent the majority of your childhood in Turkey.
Yeah.
You’ve talked before about that upbringing. You’ve characterized it as a very privileged one. How did that experience, now that you’re able to look back and reflect, affect your worldview? How does that turn you into the person that you are today?
There’s massive income inequality in Turkey that almost resembles America now, but that’s still far worse in Turkey. For that reason, if you’re above board, if you’re relatively affluent, you come across as very wealthy in comparison to the average person.
I’ve never sheltered people from that truth, but I did grow up fairly affluent. It was very positive in the sense that I didn’t have to worry about making ends meet or having to take on a job or anything like that. My parents’ main concern was to make sure that I wasn’t spoiled, so I didn’t get everything I wanted.
Outside of that, I would say that as a young boy I was sent to public school in Turkey. I think it was a good thing that my parents did that because it made me understand that there were very different income brackets with people living in very different conditions.
You moved to the United States for college, right? What was surprising to you about that transition?
When I came to college, this is literally what I wanted. Other people were like, “I want to be an astronaut,” “I want to be a teacher,” “I want to be a race car driver.” I was like, “I want to go to college in America.”
So I loved it. I was so stoked to be here, and I had all of these beliefs. You know, this is a land of freedom, land of prosperity, right?
Right.
This is where I’m gonna make a name for myself, make a career for myself.
Slowly but surely, experiences growing up or going to college and then onwards living in America, slowly chipped away at that dream. Piece by piece.
Yeah.
It’s interesting because in comparison to other fresh-off-the-boat immigrant stories, I did it. I am living the American dream, but I just realized that it’s not something that is readily accessible for all.
Streaming platform Twitch has banned several high-profile Arab streamers for a panel that took place at TwitchCon last month. The banned streamers include CapriSunnPapi, Fr0gan, Raffoulticket, DenimsTV, and Vio (who is not Arab), all of whom took part in a live-streamed panel during day two of TwitchCon San Diego called “Rating Streamers,” where they placed popular Twitch personalities on a tier list of who could or couldn’t say “habibi,” the Arab word for “friend” or “beloved.”
Meet The Filmmaker Behind This Legend of Zelda Speedrunning Documentary
The 30-day bans were handed out seemingly simultaneously and came after days of social media dialogue accusing several Arab and pro-Palestinian Twitch streamers of being antisemitic. A clip of Fr0gan saying that she “hoped” American soldiers got PTSD during a livestream was shared across X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit and commented on by YouTuber Ethan Klein and Steven Kenneth Bonnell II, aka Destiny.
On October 20, Fr0gan issued an apology on X, writing:
the us military has conducted some of the most horrific crimes against humanity in the modern era in countries such as iraq, afghanistan, syria, lebanon, and palestine my anger is directed at individuals who are currently championing these war crimes as if they “liberated” my people. it’s horrific and disgusting. the beginning of the clip was worded poorly and i do apologize for that. i go onto clarify in the clip that i do not mean “all” military, but specifically those with no remorse. what i said was out of frustration as they are currently bombing my family in the name of “liberation”. i realize that wishing people harm isn’t the best way to talk about these issues and that i could have talked about these topics in a more sensitive way.
However, it appears Fr0gan was not banned for what she said on her more recent stream but instead for the Rating Streamers panel from September 21. During the panel in question, the streamers utilized a popular internet meme called a tier list, in which the top of the tier is the “best” or, in this case, the person for whom using “habibi” is most acceptable and the bottom was the least acceptable. At the TwitchCon panel, the tiers were labeled “Arab Coded, Asks Permission, Thinks It’s a Slur, and Loves Sabra,” a reference to Sabra Hummus, a popular brand of hummus manufactured in the United States. The VOD for the entire second day of TwitchCon (which was when Rating Streamers aired) has been removed from the GivePlz Twitch channel, which hosts all of the TwitchCon videos. The video is still available on the Ayyrabs YouTube page.
Fr0gan, Capri, and Raffoul are all Arab (Fr0gan is Muslim, Raffoul is Jewish, and Capri is Christian) and host a podcast called Ayyrabs together. DenimsTV is an Arab woman and Vio is Middle Eastern. Two other streamers who briefly took part in the panel were not Arab or Middle Eastern. They were not banned at the time of publication.
On October 19, Klein posted a video to YouTube titled “Twitch Has a Major Problem” in which he said that panel was “kinda Arab good, Jew bad,” because Sabra is a “very popular Hummus brand” in Israel that is “the subject of [a] pro-Palestine boycott.” He also shared a clip from the panel in which Denims jokingly says that Klein deserved his own category for “Zionist.” Then, on a live-stream on YouTube today, October 20, Klein discussed Fr0gan, the “Tier List,” Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, and Hasan “Hasanabi” Piker, another noted political streamer who used to host a show with Klein before the two had a falling out. The livestream was titled “Dan Clancy Must Resign As Twitch CEO.”
The ban wave (which also appeared to include a permanent ban of popular streamer Sneako, who Klein mentioned in his October 19 YouTube video as an example of someone who should not have been allowed to return to Twitch) occurred while Klein was streaming. “30 day ban for saying people like bottom of the barrel hummus but other people get 2 WEEKS for advocating for the genocide of palestinians. got it,” Fr0gan posted on X after the bans were announced, referring to Twitch banning streamer Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt for 14 days after he said that Muslim people come from “an inferior culture” and that he’s “not going to cry a fucking river when people who have genocide that’s baked into their laws are getting genocided” on a recent stream.
Before the ban but during the heat of the online dialogue about the alleged antisemitism of the panel, Raffoul, who is Jewish, wrote on X, “These fucks are so anti semitic I’m the one who made the list on ‘who can say habibi’ and they try and spin this as ‘Frogan ranking people from Arab to Jew’ keep Jews out your fucking mouth.”
On October 21, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shared on X that it had spoken with Twitch staff “after becoming aware of several concerning incidents on the social media platform and/or involving Twitch streamers in the past week.”
“We appreciate @Twitch making the right decision to finally suspend the streamer Frogan for abusing her platform and the @TwitchCon event to spread antisemitic vitriol during this time of intense apprehension for the Jewish community,” the official ADL account posted in a thread. “@Twitch must learn from this situation and improve how they address antisemitism and hate on their platform, which is an ongoing and significant challenge.”
It is unclear why Twitch chose to issue a ban for a panel that took place a month ago, the contents of which the company was aware of, Kotaku has confirmed. During TwitchCon 2024, the company emphasized that the platform was “no place for hateful conduct” after announcing new changes and advancements to its ban policies.
Kotaku reached out to the ADL and Twitch for comment and will update this story accordingly.
Update: 10/21/2024 at 11:20 p.m. ET: Updated story with more context regarding Sneako ban.
Cindy Charles, Twitch’s head of music and a digital-music veteran, died Monday from injuries she suffered in a car accident in the Netherlands, her husband Ricky Fishman confirms. She was 69.
Among many other accomplishments, Charles played a key role in developing Twitch’s DJ category, which established it as the first platform for DJs to livestream legally (and included licensing deals with all three major labels along with many indie labels represented by Merlin), and earlier this month led the company’s livestream of Charli XCX’s album preview at Storm King in Upstate New York. She was in the Netherlands for a speaking engagement at the Amsterdam Dance Event.
Twitch CEO Daniel Clancy wrote on social media, “Anyone who uses music on Twitch owes a debt of gratitude to Cindy’s work. She always had a bright smile on her face, even as she negotiated unprecedented music licensing agreements.”
Her friend and colleague Kira Karlstrom wrote in a Medium post, “Cindy was more than just Twitch’s Head of Music — she was the heart and soul of our team, and a force for good in everything she touched.”
Charles joined Twitch, the Amazon-owned interactive livestream service, in 2018 in a partnerships and operations principal and was promoted to head of music in April of 2022, where she took a leading role in music licensing with labels and publishers, music programming and artist relations. She was previously head of business development for Amazon Tickets and Amazon’s Video Shorts initiative. Earlier in her career she served as senior vice president and general counsel at MediaNet (formerly MusicNet) from 2002-2010, and as a VP of law and business affairs at Viacom from 1995-2002, managing the digital legal and business affairs for several divisions within MTV Networks, including the MTVi Group, which operated SonicNet, and the interactive divisions of MTV, VH1 and CMT. She also ran her own digital media consulting firm for many years.
A native of Queens, New York, Charles attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she majored in political science, but elected to follow her father’s experience as an entertainment lawyer. She received her law degree from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
She was an advisor to the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy, a co-founder of the She Is the Music non-profit’s San Francisco chapter, a co-founder of Women in Digital Media, and sat on the advisory boards of Qwire, Hi5, and Women in Music.
Charles is survived by Fishman, her son Ben Charles and stepson Sam Fishman.
>Shondo gets very, very drunk on stream >Makes her admit she’s sad and depressed every day because of her mental illness and her family getting sicker, and especially says she’s constantly terrified of losing what she has >She wakes up the morning after and finds she’s banned without even getting an email at first, only gets this email after she demands answers >”We care about you, so we’re removing your income for a month”
As I walk to the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, a line of people wraps around several city blocks, many wearing merch with blown-up fan art of anime girls. I enter the stately theater, with its ornate gilded plasterwork and luxurious stage draperies, and find my chair. A concertgoer holds up an Austrian flag with the orange-haired VTuber Takanashi Kiara printed on it. The crowd breaks into a thunderous roar, with people waving glowing orange light sticks in the air and chanting: “Kiara! Kiara! Kiara!”
Kiara is a VTuber — a content creator who streams via a virtual avatar — and she’s part of a group of streamers signed by the talent agency Hololive. In the last four years, VTubers have been on the rise in the U.S. They’re breaking streaming records on Twitch, scooping up millions of followers on YouTube, and even taking over MLB games. Now, they’re taking to the main stage and putting on live concerts in America. To understand all the hype, I went to see Hololive’s Breaking Dimensions concert at the Kings Theatre. While the company has put on shows in other countries, it was only the second time that its VTubers have performed in English in the U.S. What really made this show unique was how it bridged the virtual world of VTubers with its IRL audience.
I decided to attend the show after Cover Corp., the parent company of Hololive, provided Polygon with a ticket. Prior to this, I had only seen these VTubers stream video games or watched them sing in the occasional karaoke stream. Similar to other virtual performers, like Hatsune Miku, the women of Hololive appear as hologram characters. However, this show takes everything a step further. Instead of showing a fully prerecorded set like Miku’s shows do, these characters came to life for portions of the show and spoke to the crowd.
In between songs, a VTuber or two would appear onstage for mid-show chats between themselves, or walk, talk, and interact with the audience just like any live performer would. In these moments, all the girls seemed particularly bubbly and vivacious, and almost flirty. They talked about what “breaking dimensions” meant to them, and some waxed poetic in borderline glib lines about how it represented the Hololive girls “breaking into the hearts” of the audience. But even this aggressively positive energy couldn’t stop a bit of memeing, and, in a particularly absurd moment, Koseki Bijou and Mori Calliope led the audience in a call-and-response version of the “you’re so skibidi” song.
When VTubers stream on Twitch and YouTube, a real-life person sits behind a desk and talks to chat using an anime avatar mapped to their face. It seems like this show worked in a similar way, since the VTubers could interact with the audience in real time. To this day, Hololive has not revealed officially which parts of the show are live or prerecorded. However, to me, it appeared that the musical numbers were prerecorded, since they ran on a set schedule and weren’t as much about the audience, and the chatting parts were live.
Even though they appeared to be prerecorded, the musical performances still had plenty to ooh and aah at. The ethereal Ceres Fauna wore a skirt shaped like a tulip that floated and bounced lightly at her every move. Kiara, the girl from the flag, sang a solo of a cute little pop romance song — with the number incorporating an entire visual scene where it rained pineapples behind her. At the end of the show, all 15 VTubers appeared onstage together. Stacked neatly into two lines as if it were a big musical number, the VTubers and their colorful outfits looked like a singing and moving rainbow on the stage.
But as grandiose as these moments were, the fans really were an integral part of the show and transformed the event from a show with digital aspects to an entire experience. The show was hosted at the same time as the Anime NYC convention, so a lot of Hololive fans attended both events. One fan I spoke to at Anime NYC told me about a fan Discord server that helps people organize the bulk-buying of custom merch for Hololive shows — which explained how so many of the attendees arrived in matching merch.
Some of the performances incorporated fan participation, so when the dog-eared duo FuwaMoco sang their song, the audience knew the exact response and when. Fans also prepurchased and brought pen lights. On Reddit, fans prepared for the show by discussing etiquette for the night and precise choreography for each idol. Seeing the sea of hundreds of rainbow light sticks move in unison against the French baroque architecture of the theater had me leaning forward in my chair, completely motionless and fully absorbed by the sight.
With all the flashing lights and concertgoers screaming in excitement, I left the venue feeling a bit overwhelmed (and with a searing headache). But the glitz and glamour brought these characters to life, and it’s an event I won’t forget anytime soon.
Correction: A previous version of this article mistook the Austrian flag for the German flag. We’ve edited the article to reflect this.
Amid a long list of Twitch streams for Black Myth: Wukong, Game Science’s new action role-playing game released this week, one stood out: “COVID-19 ISOLATION TAIWAN (IS A REAL COUNTRY) FEMINISM PROPAGANDA.” The stream, run by a creator called Moonmoon, did not include anything out of the ordinary for a video game playthrough—just that one cheeky nod to a few topics the Chinese studio Game Science, which developed the game, would rather ignore.
On platforms like Twitch and YouTube, streamersareflippingametaphoricalmiddle finger to a handful of restrictions given to some creators that were invited to review the game, which takes place in Ming-era China and is based on Chinese mythology. Just days after its launch, it’s already a massively successful game that’s drawn in more than 2.2 million concurrent players. According to market research firm Niko Partners, Black Myth: Wukong’s success “signals that Chinese studios are ready to compete directly with established Western and Japanese developers in the premium AAA space.”
Shortly before Black Myth: Wukong’s launch, some streamers were given early codes to create content with the game–along with a few caveats. According to screenshots posted online, streamers who received these instructions were told not to “include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse” in their content, nor “use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘COVID-19′.” Furthermore, streamers were asked not to discuss anything about China’s game industry policies, opinions, or news.
These guidelines were not cited as a condition to everyone who was invited to play the game early; outlets like Polygon and Kotaku were given standard review embargoes without strict rules on what content they could not talk about, aside from spoilers. According to a report from Aftermath, while some streamers do often receive requests to avoid topics like politics, those asks are typically tied to sponsorships or paid contracts. Yet those restrictions—which appear to have come from the game’s publisher, Hero Games—are now backfiring, as even players who were not given any notes thumb their noses at guidelines they find ridiculous.
Rui Zhong, a writer and researcher, streamed herself playing the game while discussing Journey to the West, the novel Black Myth is adapted from, as well as feminism in China and the country’s one-child policy. (Zhong has previously written about Chinese censorship for WIRED.)
“What bothered me was that a lot of the streams pushing back against the game’s guidelines were very low effort and played into stereotypical, surface level impressions of Chinese politics and society,” Zhong tells WIRED. Misogyny in development, game spaces, and elsewhere are “not a uniquely Chinese problem. It’s not the only place where feminists are framed as man haters, as the devs have said.”
An IGN report published last year uncovered a history of sexist and inappropriate comments made by Game Science’s employees and stakeholders. Cofounder Yang Qi has spoken about “how games made for women and men are completely different, due to their biological differences,” IGN reported; other examples include a technical artist discussing the possibility of masturbating to the game’s female snake spirit. Zhong, who was quoted in the IGN piece, told the publication that feminist organization in China was “very uphill,” with “crackdowns after labor organizing efforts, there’s been crackdowns over discussing marital problems, there’s been definitely crackdowns after people have accused prominent Chinese men of harassment, assault or sexual misconduct, and the deck has been generally very stacked against them.”
The Kamala Harris campaign is launching its own Twitch channel where it will be streaming the vice president’s acceptance speech on Thursday.
The Twitch channel is part of the campaign’s broader strategy for engaging young and difficult to reach voters online. The account, which is under the handle of “kamalaharris,” joins the campaign’s suite of social and streaming accounts like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.
“The VP’s address tonight will be one of the biggest moments of the entire campaign thus far — and we’re making sure we’re bringing her live to voters wherever they may be, Twitch included,” Seth Schuster, a Harris spokesperson, told WIRED in a statement. “Our job as the campaign is to break through a historically personalized media landscape, taking the VP and her vision for the future directly to the hardest to reach voters and those who will decide this election.”
The Harris-Walz campaign has invested heavily in digital, hiring more than 175 staffers across digital organizing, content creation, and digital advertising and fundraising. In the week after Harris jumped to the top of the Democratic ticket, the rebranded KamalaHQ TikTok account quintupled in followers and its Harris-focused content received 232 million views and 33 million likes.
There are also 200 creators who have been credentialed to cover the Democratic National Convention this week. It’s the first time independent creators have been allowed access to the DNC and they’ve been provided with opportunities to interview politicians and party leaders like DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.
The Harris campaign isn’t the first to join Twitch. The Joe Biden and Donald Trump campaigns joined Twitch as well in 2020. Trump’s account was suspended following the January 6 attack on the Capitol and was only reinstated this summer. When the Biden channel launched, the Biden team streamed a live feed from the back of a train the now-president was traveling on while playing lo-fi beats reminiscent of 24-hour relaxing music streams.
Every summer, the Spanish Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos hosts a livestreamed boxing tournament called La Velada del Año (The Evening of the Year). In just four years, it has gone from a relatively small event featuring matches between a few influencers from Spain to an enormous global phenomenon featuring over 20 combatants and a host of musical performers. A record-breaking 5.9 million Twitch users tuned in to see this year’s event, held July 13 at a packed 80,000-seat stadium in Madrid.
The biggest name on the bill was Will Smith, who appeared as a headlining musical act and led the crowd in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV show theme. The Oscar winner was the first English-speaking performer in the event’s history, but he wasn’t the most popular part of the evening. According to data from StreamsCharts, the most-viewed moment during the stream, which also set a record with 3.8 million simultaneous viewers, was a boxing match between two influencers, one from Spain and one from Chile.
The event makes for a perfect cross-section of what internet popularity looks like in 2024. For a start, there’s the boxing matches. Mano-a-mano combat has been a promotional tactic for influencers for years. Examples appear across the spectrum, from controversial YouTuber turned MMA fighter Logan Paul all the way to tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who made serious preparations for a cage match last year before Zuckerberg called it off. In an era when cultural cachet is defined by parasocial stan armies, who live up to their name by getting into fierce, bitter rivalries with other fans, there’s an indelible power to seeing these famous figures literally trade blows.
Of course, in reality, these influencers and internet personalities understand it’s not really a competition. Ibai regularly collaborates with other streamers from across the globe, combining their audiences and fan bases for more engagement and a higher profile. The same day as La Velada del Año, YouTuber MrBeast uploaded a video entitled “50 YouTubers Fight For $1,000,000.” The video is done in MrBeast’s usual frenetic style, but the format itself seems clearly inspired by Ibai Llanos’ tournament. Ibai himself is one of the 50 YouTubers who appears in the video, forestalling any accusations from fans of either streamer.
The competition being conceived for Twitch broadcast also means it’s modeled after an esports tournament as much as a UFC fight. Ibai, who serves as the MC and commentator for the evening’s matches, first achieved success on Twitch as a Spanish-language League of Legends announcer. He has parlayed his streaming success into a media empire, including a televised talk show and cofounding the Kings League, a soccer league that optimizes the game for streaming by adding video-game-inspired rules like power-ups. Video games are already a huge industry, but they’re starting to become popular for marketers, suggesting events like La Velada del Año, which bring the culture of gaming into more traditional spaces, will only become more common on Twitch and off.
Twitch itself is in an odd, paradoxical position. The streaming platform has seen an overall decline in user and revenue growth for the past few years and has never turned a profit since being acquired by Amazon in 2015. In February, the site completely withdrew from Korea, which had been one of its biggest foreign markets. At the same time, though, Twitch streamers are bigger than ever as the general audience for livestreams grows. Spain in particular has become an enormous market for Twitch streamers, since they can stream to a global Spanish-speaking audience while taking advantage of lucrative European marketing deals.
Over the last few days, people have been talking a lot about Guy “Dr. Disrespect” Beahm, the once-popular Twitch streamer who was permanently banned from the site in 2020 for mysterious reasons, shifted to YouTube, and who has now come under fire for reportedly sending inappropriate text messages to a minor. These recent allegations have led to the streamer losing fans and sponsors, and forced him to issue a lengthy (and somewhat vague) statement about what he did.
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Given that you’re reading this article here on Kotaku.com, you probably know what’s happening, have kept up with the news, and understand what a Twitch streamer is and how popular they can be in 2024.
But for the rest of the world, including some of your friends, family, and spouses, this all might seem incomprehensible. So, this guide should help you provide fairly concise, easy-to-understand answers for all the Dr Disrespect questions you might be receiving from people close to you.
“Who is Dr Disrespect?”
Herschel Guy Beahm is a 42-year-old video game streamer who previously worked with Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games from 2011 to 2015.
He began streaming full-time after leaving the studio and became famous for his “toxic gamer” character known as Dr Disrespect. As “the doc,” he would often yell a lot, insulting other players, and act overly confident while playing battle royale titles like PUBG and H1Z1.
“Wait… so he was famous for yelling a lot and playing video games?”
Well, when you put it like that it does sound really silly, but yes, that’s basically what turned Dr Disrespect into a popular streamer with millions of subscribers and fans around the world. He was also pretty good at shooters like Call of Duty, which helped build his audience, too.
“Why does he uh…look like that?”
It’s part of his schtick. Dr Disrespect is supposed to be a parody of toxic gamers mixed together with an action-hero persona, hence the headphones, sunglasses, ‘80s mullet, and red tactical vest. However, depending on who you ask, Dr Disrespect might have essentially become the very thing he parodied as he became more comfortable spreading conspiracy theories and insulting people’s accents.
“I saw something about a bathroom incident?”
In June 2019, Dr Disrespect was invited to E3—a large gaming trade show—and streamed live from the convention floor. At one point, he entered a men’s restroom which had other people in it, and had his camera operator follow him in and stream his bathroom break.
He was temporarily banned from Twitch for doing this, but this ended up making him even more famous. I don’t really have an answer for that part, sorry.
“I’m confused, is this a character or really him?”
That’s a great question! It’s hard to say. While it’s clear that he’s still putting on a wig and fake mustache and all the other parts of the costume, it’s become increasingly difficult to figure out where Dr Disrespect ends and Beahm begins.
We are jumping ahead a bit here, but in a recent statement about all the shit going on, he decided to write it in character. I’m not sure if this was a choice he made on purpose or just the latest example of his inability to separate reality from his popular creation.
“I’m going to take some time off to focus on stupid fuckin’ mistakes,” Beahm said, “I’m going to take time off to focus on my family.” This message, it should be noted, was delivered on video out of character.
“So why did he get banned from Twitch in 2020?”
Well, for a long time very few people knew what actually happened. On June 26, Dr Disrespect was permanently banned from Twitch. The streamer had 4 million subscribers and was one of the biggest names on the platform. But that didn’t matter. At the time, Dr Disrespect said he didn’t know why he had been banned.
In 2021 he filed a lawsuit against Twitch after claiming he learned why he was banned. That lawsuit was settled in 2022. “I have resolved my legal dispute with Twitch,” Dr Disrespect said in a message posted to Twitter. “No party admits to any wrongdoing.” That was all we knew until this past weekend.
“But now we do know because…”
Cody Conners, a former higher-up at Twitch, broke his silence on June 21, claiming on Twitter that Dr Disrespect got banned because he “got caught sexting a minor” and trying to “meet up with her at TwitchCon.” As you might expect, this led to a firestorm online and reporters began digging and talking to sources, with The Verge corroborating Conners’ claim on June 23 after speaking to another Twitch employee with information about the situation.
“Okay, so what has he said about all this?”
At first, Dr Disrespect seemed to be trying to move on and hoping all this would blow over. However, as more reports came in and more people began talking about the situation, it became clear this wasn’t going away.
On June 24, the game studio he had helped create cut ties with him after it investigated the claims itself. The news of him being removed from the studio was reportedly sent to him during an Elden Ring stream on Monday, and in a clip near the end of that stream you can see him reacting negatively to a message on his phone.
On June 25, Dr Disrespect finally broke his silence and issued a lengthy statement on Twitter confirming that in 2017 he’d exchanged text messages with a minor that sometimes “leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more.”
“Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not,” added the streamer. He said he didn’t send any pictures or videos and he claimed no criminal charges were ever filed.
“Now what happens?”
Well, I’m not sure! It’s possible that YouTube, where Dr Disrespect currently streams, might remove the content creator from the platform. It’s also possible he’s able to stick around. During his most recent stream, he claimed to be taking an “extended vacation” and said he was burned out by streaming and being online.
So perhaps he just vanishes into the ether. Or he comes roaring back in a few weeks on a new platform. For now, we don’t know. We’ll just have to wait to find out.
“Well, what about other streamers and content creators? They aren’t controversial right?”
lol. Just don’t worry about it and enjoy your life living in peaceful bliss if you don’t know what a Ninja or a Nickmercs is. You are truly blessed.
Leah Feiger: Yes, the royals are globalist, conspiracy is well trodden, but always good.
Makena Kelly: Yeah. Haunted portrait.
Leah Feiger: Haunted portrait, OK, that’s actually a really good one. I didn’t even think about that one as related to conspiracies.
Hasan Piker: Yeah, it wasn’t bad at all.
Leah Feiger: I like that one.
Hasan Piker: OK. I didn’t realize it was supposed to be a current one. I mean, I got immediately, I’m in New York. The two things I thought about, especially being in One World Trade Center, was what happened on Tower Seven? How did Tower Seven fall? A question that is on my mind at all times. I’m not like a “jet fuel can’t melt steel beams” kind of guy, but it’s kind of odd that Tower Seven fell. Who knows?
Leah Feiger: You’re edging into 9/11 truther territory.
Hasan Piker: That is the one, I’m not like, we did it deliberately and then so that we could do global war or whatever. I don’t go to that length.
Leah Feiger: Yikes.
Hasan Piker: Or that it was like a fake or staged, or that we did it. We blew up the towers. For our listeners. Hasan does not believe that. Yeah, I don’t believe that, but Tower Seven, kind of weird.
Hasan Piker: Tower Seven, I don’t know what happened. I will go out and investigate later.
Makena Kelly: Oh, good, now report your findings back.
Hasan Piker: When I leave.
Leah Feiger: I feel like we’ve gotten a little glimpse into the conspiracy corner of your mind here. I’m really sorry. I’m going to have to give the win this week to McKenna.
Makena Kelly: Wow.
Hasan Piker: At least this was a relevant one. It’s a new one. Mine is an old one. An old but gold.
Leah Feiger: Hasan, thank you so much for joining us today.
Hasan Piker: Thank you for having me.
Makena Kelly: Yeah, this was great. This was great.
Hasan Piker: Thank you for having me. Yeah, this was great.
Makena Kelly: Where can all of our listeners find you besides Twitch?
Hasan Piker: Yeah. I’m live on Twitch every day at Twitch.tv/HasanAbi from 11:00 am Pacific time, all the way to like 8:00 pm, seven days a week, and beyond that, I’m Hasan D. Piker on TikTok and on Instagram and Hasan the Hun on Twitter.
Leah Feiger: Wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us, Hasan.
Hasan Piker: Thank you for having me.
Leah Feiger: Thanks for listening to WIRED Politics Lab. If you like what you heard today, make sure to follow the show and rate it on your podcast app of choice. We also have a newsletter which Makena writes each week. The link to the newsletter and the WIRED reporting we mentioned today are in the show notes. If you’d like to get in touch with us with any questions, comments, or show suggestions, please write to politicslab@wired.com. That’s politicslab@wired.com. We’re so excited to hear from you. WIRED Politics Lab is produced by Jake Harper. Jake Lummus is our studio engineer, Amar Lal mixed this episode, Stephanie Karyuki is our executive producer. Jordan Bell is our executive producer of development, and Chris Bannon is the global head of audio at Condé Nast, and I’m your host, Leah Feiger. We’ll be back in your feeds with a new episode next week. Thanks for listening.
Twitch has been testing a discovery feed for livestreams and Clips on mobile since last year, in hopes of giving users a new way to find new streamers to follow and, hence, spend more time on the platform. Now, the website has announced that it’s rolling out the feature to all users later this month. The feed will first appear as a new tab in the mobile app and will allow viewers to switch between a scrollable feed for livestreams and another one for Clips. Like their names imply, the live feed will show users broadcasts from people they already follow and ongoing streams from people they don’t based on their watch history. Meanwhile, the Clips feed will be filled with short snippets from live broadcasts.
Users will be able to join ongoing streams from the live feed by tapping on the streamers’ avatars to immediately go into theater mode. Twitch will also show when the streamer is live in the Clips feed, so viewers can check them out from there, as well. And just in case it isn’t clear, Twitch explained in its announcement that the discovery feed will only be aggregating streams and clips from the service and that creators cannot upload to it directly. In other words, getting highlighted on the feed is a game of chance, though featured Clips will be given priority over non-featured ones.
The discovery feed launching this month isn’t its final form, though. Some users might start seeing the feed as their actual home page sometime next month, which is what Twitch had in mind for the feature in the first place. In early March, company CEO Dan Clancy said the service is giving its mobile app its first major redesign in years and that the discovery feed will be its new landing page.
In an interview with the channel TweakMusicTips, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said that DJ streamers on the platform will have to share their revenue with music labels. As posted by Zach Bussey on X (formerly Twitter), Clancy said that Twitch is working on a “structure,” wherein DJs and the platform “are gonna have to share money with the labels.” He said he’s already talked to some DJs about it. The DJs, of course, realized that they’d rather not share what they earn. But Clancy said that Twitch will pay part of what the labels are owed, while the DJs hand over a portion of their revenue.
Clancy’s statement was part of his response to the host’s question about the copyright situation of music streamers on the platform. The CEO replied that Twitch has been talking to music labels about it in hopes of finding a stable solution so that DJ streamers don’t get hit with DMCA takedown requests. He also said that the website has a “pretty good thing” going on with labels right now — a “thing” that involves Twitch paying them money, apparently — but it’s not a sustainable long-term solution. Plus, the labels are only OK with that deal at the moment because they know Twitch is working on another solution that will make them (more) money.
Clancy also clarified that live streams and videos on demand have different sets of rules for playing copyrighted music, and the latter is definitely a problem. That’s why he suggests that DJs should mute pre-recorded videos on their own, because Twitch’s system doesn’t always detect copyrighted songs to mute them. The CEO said Twitch is close to signing the deal with labels, but it’s unclear how the Amazon subsidiary intends to monitor live music streams and if it already has the technology to do so.
Ben disappeared somewhere in the pitch black of the Old World. A handful of streamers gathered to investigate its monster-filled caverns and hallways, only to find their friend had gone missing. “Did Ben die?” one wondered aloud, just before another spotted him with relief in his voice. “I’m not even kidding, it took me,” Ben starts to say. “It carried me a mile underground.” One of his companions interrupts: “Wai-wai-wait, shut up, shut the fuck up, shut up! Tell that story on camera now.”
“Oh, OK OK,” Ben replies, getting into position. Someone shines a flashlight on him. The light hits a gelatinous monster behind him. It yanks him away, again, before he even can finish his sentence. Luckily, his kidnapping is all on camera this time, and content creator videogamedunkey has a potential viral hit on his hands—both in the game, Content Warning, and on his real-life YouTube channel.
In the week since its release, Content Warning—a co-op horror game about trying to film monsters (and survive) to get views on a faux YouTube—has been a runaway hit for developer Landfall Games. In the first 24 hours after it hit Steam, more than 6 million players downloaded it.
Built by a tiny team of five developers in just six weeks, Content Warning has quickly become gaming’s latest trending topic by being a send-up of the very players it was made for: game streamers aiming to go viral and the fans who love to watch them. A perfect meta commentary on how far some influencers will go for a win. Across YouTube and Twitch, where the game’s fans are most visible, everyone just knew what to do: film, film, film.
The team behindContent Warning sensed they had something special the first time they recorded a video of their expedition and watched it together. “It was instantly hilarious,” says developer Zorro Svärdendahl. It’s not that they’d done anything special—in fact, they’d mostly filmed each other walking behind trees and playing peek-a-boo—but the bones were there. They just had to make the game’s videos punchier.
In the game, players have three days to capture footage good enough to rack up views online, but every time they enter the game’s Old World they’re at risk. Monsters tend to appear suddenly out of the dark, sometimes with jarring screams.
A finished video, which surviving team members gather to watch at the end, typically has a The Blair Witch-ian found footage quality to it—shakey shots taken while running, a lot of screaming, and above all people barking things like “Get this on film.” The game’s goofy aesthetic for its SpookTubers, who have figures similar to arm-waving inflatables and faces that players create by typing emoticons, makes the whole thing all the more entertaining.
Content Warning is part of a long tradition at Landfall Games, which releases a small, silly game every year on April Fools’ Day. One year, it was a “horse-drifting-romance-roadtrip-battle-royale”; for another, it was a parody of battle royale. This year’s title is about the many players who have seamlessly adapted to being influencers. There’s a huge social element at work, where people are role-playing with their friends in the game. Sometimes it’s a YouTuber-type. Sometimes it’s as a news reporter trying to do a very tumultuous interview. People get creative.
As one of the most beloved couples from So You Think Can Dance, it’s understandable why fans want to know more about tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker, and where she is now after his death.
tWitch, whose real full name is Stephen Laurel Boss, died on December 13, 2022. He was 40 years old. He was survived by his wife, Allison Holker, a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 2, and their three children: Weslie Fowler, Maddox Laurel and Zaia. Holker confirmed her husband’s death in a statement to People on December 14, 2022. He was 40 years old. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” Holker said in a statement. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.” She continued, “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory. We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children.” She ended her statement with a message to her husband. “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you,” she said.
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tWitch’s cause of death was an apparent suicide, according to TMZ. Law enforcement sources told the site that tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker, ran into a Los Angeles Police Department station on December 13, 2022, frantic because tWitch had left their house without his car, which wasn’t like him. At around 11:15 a.m. PT, paramedics received a call for a medical emergency at a Los Angeles hotel, where tWitch was found dead. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Holker, who married tWitch on December 10, 2013, celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary three days before his death. “It’s our 9th anniversary!! I couldn’t be more grateful to celebrate this perfect magical day!!! Saying YES to @sir_twitch_alot has been one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life!! I feel so blessed and loved!! I love you baby and I will never take you or OUR love for granted! I LOVE YOU #happyanniversary #bosswedding2013,” she captioned an Instagram post of photos and videos from their wedding. tWitch also shared his own anniversary Instagram post with a black-and-white photo from his and Holker’s wedding. “Happy anniversary my love @allisonholker #9years ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,” he wrote.
So who is tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker? Read on for what we know about tWitch’s wife and how they met before his sudden and tragic death.
Who is tWitch’s wife?
Image: Michael Rowe/Getty Images for IMDb.
Who is tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker? Like her husband was, Holker is also a professional dancer. In an interview with People four months after the tragic death of her husband, she spoke about the strength her children have found in carrying on. “My kids and I always had such a strong unit, but at this time there is just a different bond that we share. I always want to make sure that they see me really strong for them, but it’s been amazing to see that my kids are also there for me now,” said Holker of her daughters Weslie, 14, Zaia, 3, and son Maddox, 7.
“I’m so proud of them, and of how they’re willing to feel and communicate with me. They’re open to asking me questions, and we try to find our way together,” she continued. “Sometimes it breaks my heart that they have to feel that pressure to take care of me, but that’s a true testament to Stephen because that’s what he would have done.” Holker also said she saw the best parts of Stephen in their children. “Weslie is his wisdom, Maddox is his joy, and our youngest, Zaia, is his intuition,” she said. “They all have these really special, unique energies about them. They lean into it and they inspire me every single day.”
She was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 2, where she came in eighth place. She returned as an all-star on So You Think You Can Dance for seasons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14. She was an all-star with tWitch on seasons 7, 8 and 9. Holker was also a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars for seasons 19 where she was partnered with actor Jonathan Bennett; season 20 where she was partnered with R5 member Riker Lynch; season 21 where she was partnered with singer Andy Grammer; and season 23 where she was partnered with singer Babyface.
In an interview with HollywoodLife in 2017, Holker explained what dance means to her. “Dance to me is my home,” she said. “I say dance is my home, because in a home, you want love, creativity, respect, all these things, and to me that’s everything that encompasses dance. So I feel at my best when I’m dancing. It helps me to be strong and to release so many of my emotions and be in tune with myself. I connect a lot with people. I find being a dancer that some of our strongest moments together are when we’re dancing together.” She continued, “As a pro on Dancing With the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance, I found some of my strongest relationships, because dance is a way of connecting and finding a moment with someone. It really is something special and unique that you don’t find in any other physical activity, you know? Because it’s you with another person, and you guys dive in together with these characters. So dance, to me, has been really special to create amazing bonds with people.”
She also revealed at the time whether she would come back to So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing With the Stars. “I’ll definitely be going back to those shows. I had a little bit of a crossover with some scheduling things for this summer, so I do have a couple of things coming up that are very, very exciting,” she said. “I can’t say what they are right now, but I start filming this next week, and I’m very excited about this new journey and this new project I’m working on. It’s very, very exciting. I’m nervous but excited. I love to challenge myself and try new things and push myself in new directions. Sometimes it’s the most nerve-wracking thing because you don’t really know what you’re doing because you’re new to it. But then you always learn the most those ways. I love trying new things, and so I’m going to be doing a new show, and it’s going to be an exciting new journey for us all.”
Alison Holker was announced as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance season 18. She says her two affirmations are “I’ll always show up,” and “I’m capable of it.” “I also tell myself that every season — whether it’s good or bad — has an expiration date,” she said in an essay. “And if you can just get past those hard moments, you’ll find yourself.”
How did tWitch and Allison Holker meet?
Image: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images.
How did tWitch and Allison Holker meet? tWitch and Holker met in 2006 when they were invited to a party hosted by their mutual friend, Ivan Koumaev, who was also a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 2 with Holker at the time. “We met there for the first time, but Allison doesn’t remember at all! Meanwhile, I had blond hair and piercings, so I’m not sure how you’d forget me, but that’s neither here nor there,” tWitch told Dance Spirit in 2012.
Holker and tWitch, who was the runner-up on So You Think You Can Dance season 4, reconnected in 2010 when they were both all-stars on SYTYCD season 7. “We met again during Season 7, but didn’t say a word to each other the whole season. So that’s why I had no idea, because she wouldn’t talk to me and I thought she wasn’t interested. She did catch me checking her out in the hallway once,” tWitch said. Holker, however, denied that she didn’t make a move on tWitch. “I didn’t just make one move—I made, like, 10 moves and he wasn’t seeing them, so I had to put myself out there even more. From the first week of So You Think You Can Dance as all-stars, I thought he was the cutest guy ever. His personality was so fun,” he said.
Their relationship didn’t turn romantic until August 2010 when they attended the premiere of Step-Up 3D, which tWitch starred in, in Los Angeles, and tWitch asked for Holker’s phone number. “The all-stars went to the Step Up 3D premiere, but Stephen went separately because he was in the movie. I looked down the red carpet and saw him standing there in this nice gray suit and glasses—he looked so hot,” Holker said. “When he walked up to say hi, I got embarrassed and hid behind Ade! Then, at the party, I met his mother and brother and even danced with him a little bit. I was geeking out. That was the first night we were out together at the same place. So I finally made my move, and he asked for my number.”
Though they exchanged numbers, it wasn’t until the So You Think You Can Dance wrap party that either made a move on the other. “I was nervous! So, anyway, when the season 7 wrap party came, I knew it was the last night I would see him. I was like, ‘Geez, I guess I have to be stronger about my moves.’” Holker said. “I hadn’t planned on going because I’m a mom and don’t really go out and party. But when he texted to see if I was going, I was ready and in the car! I showed up and people were trying to say hi, but I was on a mission to find this guy. I saw him at the other end of the room, and he pointed and did this little ‘come here’ motion. We went upstairs and danced for three hours straight.”
The two got engaged in 2013 when tWitch proposed to Holker while filming a commercial. They married that December at So You Think You Can Dance judge and creator Nigel Lythgoe winery in Paso Robles, California. Their first child together, son Maddox, was born on 2016. Holker and tWitch share two children: son Maddox, 6, and daughter Zaia, 3. tWitch was also the stepfather to Holker’s daughter, Weslie Fowler, from a previous relationship.
In an interview with People in February 2022, Holker revealed that she told tWitch he was The One three weeks into dating. “Three weeks into us dating, I told him that he was my one,” she said. “I was so confident.” tWitch, however, didn’t know Holker was The One until three months after their first dance at the So You Think You Can Dance season 7 wrap party when the two were on a date and came across a house that was being remodeled and decide to have a look around. “We hopped the fence, we found the door that’s open and the alarm goes off,” he said. “I turned to look and Allison’s already running and as I’m sprinting to catch up with her, I know it’s the weirdest thought, but I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m going to marry this woman.’ That just let me know she’s the one.”
Holker told OK magazine in October 2022, two months before tWitch’s death, that she and her husband were still in their “honeymoon phase.” “We already spent so much time together, but now we wake up, we go to our office together, we work together all day. I know a lot of people probably think that sounds crazy, but we love it. We’re together all day every day and we are just living our best married life. I feel like we’re back in the honeymoon phase again!” she said at the time.
She continued, “People around us are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are still in that lovey phase.’ We haven’t gotten out of it all! He inspires me every single day, and I think we share such a mutual respect for each other. I respect him as a man, a father, and he does the same for me. I feel like there’s a lot of appreciation and respect, and I think that’s what really helps us is that we stay engaged with each other. There’s not a day that goes by that either one of us do something for each other and we don’t say thank you for going the extra mile. We explore that in our relationship a lot. I make it really, really important.”
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He may have been a superstar dancer to the rest of the world, but to tWitch’s kids with Allison Holker, he was just their dad.
tWitch, whose real full name is Stephen Laurel Boss, died on December 13, 2022. He was 40 years old. He was survived by his wife, Allison Holker, a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 2, and their three children: Weslie Fowler, Maddox Laurel and Zaia. Holker confirmed her husband’s death in a statement to People on December 14, 2022. He was 40 years old. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” Holker said in a statement. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.” She continued, “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt. I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory. We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children.” She ended her statement with a message to her husband. “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you,” she said.
In an interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show in November 2022, Holker and tWitch revealed they were considering having another child together. “I think we’d love to start trying for another one,” Holker said at the time. “We really do [miss it],” tWitch added, “I love the little babies. I love ’em.” Holker and tWitch also told People in 2020 about what it was like to raise three children. “It still takes a village!” tWitch said. “[It’s] a little challenging [because] we have family in Utah and Arizona; our family’s spread out. But then also we have what would be our chosen family, our family friends in L.A., that are always there to help. And also we have nannies. And it does — it takes a whole village to run this thing.” Holker added, “People always talk about how it takes a village for hair and makeup and styling — it’s the same thing with having kids. We have hands on deck all the time willing to help and jump on board.”
So who are tWitch’s kids with Allison Holker? Read on for what we know about tWitch’s kids and family and how old they were at the time of their father’s death.
Meet tWitch and Allison Holker’s kids below and see how old their children are now.
Weslie Renae Fowler
Image: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images.
Birthday: May 26, 2008
Weslie Renae Fowler is Allison Holker’s first child with her ex-fiance. She was born on May 26, 2008, and was later adopted by tWitch. She was 14 years old at the time of tWitch’s death. In an interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show in November 2022, Holker revealed that Weslie was a freshman in high school and went to her first homecoming dance earlier that year. “She’s so cool. She’s such a good kid. She’s so respectful,” she said. Weslie, who grew up playing soccer, is also on her high school’s soccer team. “Soccer is where I can channel my focus in something I truly love and form bonds that last a lifetime,” she wrote in an Instagram post in June 2022.
In an TikTok video in 2020, Weslie, whose social media is managed by her parents, according to People, responded to a user who asked why she “dresses like a boy.” “Patriarchy is dead. Just because I don’t wear dresses and bright pink doesn’t mean I’m dressing like a boy,” she said. She continued, “This is my style. I wear comfy clothes and darker colors and just because I dress like that doesn’t mean I’m dressing like a boy and it doesn’t mean that boys or girls are defined by certain things because of their gender. It doesn’t mean anything and just because you can’t open your eyes doesn’t mean I’m about to change.”
Holker commended Weslie for her response in an interview with People at the time. “What we taught her is by you addressing it, it almost releases it from you. You don’t have to hold on to those negative comments.” She continued, “We didn’t tell her to make that video, that was of her own accord, but what we have told her is, ‘Are you addressing it? You don’t have to hold onto that pain anymore.’ And hopefully that person sees it and realizes, ‘Oh, wow, maybe I should look in on myself.’”
Maddox Laurel Boss
Image: Amy Sussman/Getty Images.
Birthday: March 27, 2016
Maddox Laurel Boss is tWitch and Allison Holker’s first biological child together and only son. He was born on March 27, 2016, and was six years old at the time of his father’s death. “[Maddox’s birth] was truly an unforgettable moment and we are grateful to everyone that shared in the experience and made it so monumental. Our family feels full!” tWitch and Holker told People in a statement at the time of Maddox’s birth. “Maddox already has the best big sister Weslie, they have already bonded and share a truly beautiful love.” Holker confirmed in a tweet at the time that her and tWitch’s baby was born on Easter Sunday. “We had an EASTER BABY!! We welcomed MADDOX LAUREL BOSS to the world. 8 lbs 15 oz, and very healthy. He is surrounded by so much LOVE,” she tweeted. Holker also shared a black-and-white photo on Instagram of her holding Maddox’s hand. “Our MADDOX is like the beginning of all things – wonder, hope, and a dream of possibilities. My life and our families home is changed forever. He blessed our lives exactly a week ago and it will never be the same again, and he has brought such a beautiful joy with him. We will let every moment sink in and last a lifetime! This is our family, our happiness and our future. WE WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER MADDOX LAUREL BOSS ❤️,” she wrote.
In an interview with People in 2020, tWitch and Holker revealed that Maddox had inherited his parents’ dancing genes. “Our baby brings so much happiness into our house. Listen, we have a really good one!” Holker said. “He’s laughing, he smiles, he sleeps through the night. It’s like we have the dream of a baby. It’s amazing!” She continued, “Our baby dances every night. He’s already a popper. He loves hip-hop music. He jams out every single night. It’s incredible. We actually had our baby to the song ‘Push It’ by Salt-N-Pepa, so he’s musically inclined, and he’s got a lot of rhythm.”
In August 2022, Maddox joined tWitch and Holker at the season 17 finale of So You Think You Can Dance, which tWitch and Holker were both contestants on. “This show just means the world to us!! It feels like home!! And now bringing our son Maddox to see was just perfect!!!” Holker wrote in an Instagram post after the finale. That same month, Maddox started first grade. “First day First grade!! The time is going by too fast but little Boss you are taking the world by storm. Go get em mane!!! We love you Maddox,” tWitch captioned an Instagram post at the time of Maddox with a backpack. In an interview with People in September 2022, Holker opened up about what it was like to have Weslie in high school, Maddox in elementary school, and their daughter, Zaia, still at home. “We are in full gear with our three kids. It is chaotic and wild. But it’s also really beautiful all at the same time,” she said. “I call it beautiful chaos.” She continued, “Our kids are thriving. They’re so excited to be back in school, back into their sports and activities. There’s a lot of excitement and nerves, but as a parent, it’s so rewarding, you watch [your kids] go through all of the emotions. It’s been a really cool time.” Holker also told the magazine that she was “really grateful” to have her kids back in the classroom after the current health crisis. “There’s a different energy about them being at school. Every single day, they’re excited about it,” she said. “They see the benefit of it and they’re grateful to be out of the house and doing things again.”
Zaia Boss
Image: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images.
Birthday: November 6, 2019
Zaia Boss is tWitch and Allison Holker’s second biological child together and second daughter. She was born on November 9, 2019, and was three years old at the time of his father’s death. “ZAIA BOSS 9 lbs 3 oz — 21 inches long,” Holker captioned a black-and-white Instagram photo of Zaia holding her hand. “Healthy beautiful angel.” tWitch shared the same photo on Instagram with the caption, “Zaia 👶🏽” In an interview with People in 2020, tWitch opened up about how Maddox was adjusting to becoming an older brother. “Weslie’s always just been the best big sister, even with Maddox before. It’s like having a built-in babysitter. And with her new sister, she’s also eager to help. Very, very helpful. And Maddox is really excited,” he said.
When Zaia was 16 months old, she ended up in a leg cast after “going down a slide in the park” and injuring herself. “They said she’s so little that [they’d] cast her up just to be sure. So it was only a couple of weeks, but either way, it’s really sad. We see this tiny little baby in a cast, but it’s also kind of cute, in a weird way,” Holker told People in 2021. For Halloween 2022, tWitch and Holker dressed their family as the Addams Family. Holker and tWitch dressed as Morticia and Gomez; Weslie dressed as Wednesday; Maddox dressed as Pugsley; and Zaia dressed as Pubert.
Image: Michael Rowe/Getty Images for IMDb.
Who is tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker? tWitch and Holker met in 2006 when they were invited to a party hosted by their mutual friend, Ivan Koumaev, who was also a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 2 with Holker at the time. “We met there for the first time, but Allison doesn’t remember at all! Meanwhile, I had blond hair and piercings, so I’m not sure how you’d forget me, but that’s neither here nor there,” tWitch told Dance Spirit in 2012.
Holker and tWitch, who was the runner-up on So You Think You Can Dance season 4, reconnected in 2010 when they were both all-stars on SYTYCD season 7. “We met again during Season 7, but didn’t say a word to each other the whole season. So that’s why I had no idea, because she wouldn’t talk to me and I thought she wasn’t interested. She did catch me checking her out in the hallway once,” tWitch said. Holker, however, denied that she didn’t make a move on tWitch. “I didn’t just make one move—I made, like, 10 moves and he wasn’t seeing them, so I had to put myself out there even more. From the first week of So You Think You Can Dance as all-stars, I thought he was the cutest guy ever. His personality was so fun,” he said.
Their relationship didn’t turn romantic until August 2010 when they attended the premiere of Step-Up 3D, which tWitch starred in, in Los Angeles, and tWitch asked for Holker’s phone number. “The all-stars went to the Step Up 3D premiere, but Stephen went separately because he was in the movie. I looked down the red carpet and saw him standing there in this nice gray suit and glasses—he looked so hot,” Holker said. “When he walked up to say hi, I got embarrassed and hid behind Ade! Then, at the party, I met his mother and brother and even danced with him a little bit. I was geeking out. That was the first night we were out together at the same place. So I finally made my move, and he asked for my number.”
Though they exchanged numbers, it wasn’t until the So You Think You Can Dance wrap party that either made a move on the other. “I was nervous! So, anyway, when the season 7 wrap party came, I knew it was the last night I would see him. I was like, ‘Geez, I guess I have to be stronger about my moves.’” Holker said. “I hadn’t planned on going because I’m a mom and don’t really go out and party. But when he texted to see if I was going, I was ready and in the car! I showed up and people were trying to say hi, but I was on a mission to find this guy. I saw him at the other end of the room, and he pointed and did this little ‘come here’ motion. We went upstairs and danced for three hours straight.”
The two got engaged in 2013 when tWitch proposed to Holker while filming a commercial. They married that December at So You Think You Can Dance judge and creator Nigel Lythgoe winery in Paso Robles, California. Their first child together, son Maddox, was born on 2016. Holker and tWitch share two children: son Maddox, 6, and daughter Zaia, 3. tWitch was also the stepfather to Holker’s daughter, Weslie Fowler, from a previous relationship.
In an interview with People in February 2022, Holker revealed that she told tWitch he was The One three weeks into dating. “Three weeks into us dating, I told him that he was my one,” she said. “I was so confident.” tWitch, however, didn’t know Holker was The One until three months after their first dance at the So You Think You Can Dance season 7 wrap party when the two were on a date and came across a house that was being remodeled and decide to have a look around. “We hopped the fence, we found the door that’s open and the alarm goes off,” he said. “I turned to look and Allison’s already running and as I’m sprinting to catch up with her, I know it’s the weirdest thought, but I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m going to marry this woman.’ That just let me know she’s the one.”
Holker told OK magazine in October 2022, two months before tWitch’s death, that she and her husband were still in their “honeymoon phase.” “We already spent so much time together, but now we wake up, we go to our office together, we work together all day. I know a lot of people probably think that sounds crazy, but we love it. We’re together all day every day and we are just living our best married life. I feel like we’re back in the honeymoon phase again!” she said at the time.
She continued, “People around us are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are still in that lovey phase.’ We haven’t gotten out of it all! He inspires me every single day, and I think we share such a mutual respect for each other. I respect him as a man, a father, and he does the same for me. I feel like there’s a lot of appreciation and respect, and I think that’s what really helps us is that we stay engaged with each other. There’s not a day that goes by that either one of us do something for each other and we don’t say thank you for going the extra mile. We explore that in our relationship a lot. I make it really, really important.”
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Updated, 01/31/24, 2:00 p.m. ET: After announcing her departure from Twitch, Imane “Pokimane” Anys posted on X/Twitter that her first-ever YouTube broadcast will occur on February 1 at 12 p.m. PT.
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It’s a streamer showdown between some of Twitch and YouTube’s most popular creators, including Ludwig and Pokimane (repping Team Red) and TinaKitten and Ryan Higa (repping Team Purple). The five-on-five brawl will see the streamers playing Codenames, League of Legends, and Valorant, with each winner getting 100 gifted subscriptions.
In addition to announcing the YouTube broadcast, as reported by Dexerto, Pokimane also released a new episode of her podcast in which she went into detail about her reasons for leaving Twitch. In it, she voices many issues with Twitch’s conduct in recent years, saying at one point, “I personally am done with Twitch’s messy behavior in the sense that I’m not done with Twitch, but I’m done with, like, being emotionally invested in the changes that this company is doing.”
“Moving forward, I’m going to try streaming on other platforms,” she said, citing YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram. “I just want to be able to partake in different platforms and things either as I see fit or as I find excitement in doing it.”
The original story follows below.
One of Twitch’s most popular ladies won’t be streaming exclusively on the platform where she first became a star anymore. Calling it “the end of an era,” Imane “Pokimane” Anys announced her departure from the Amazon-owned site in an X/Twitter post on January 30. Accompanying the tweet was an official promotional image of the Twitch app featuring her face, an indication of just how closely she’s been associated with the site in the past.
Pokimane has been streaming since at least 2012. She officially created her Twitch channel in 2014 and in the decade since, she’s amassed some 9.3 million followers. Her personality is effervescent and she’s known for her great sense of humor. Her tenure on the platform has not been without controversy, of course; in November of 2023 she embarked on a cookie apology tour after calling one viewer who complained about the price of a snack she had launched a “broke boy.” Still, Pokimane has grown to become one of the faces of Twitch. Now, though, she’s saying her goodbyes and departing for greener pastures.
“Twitch has been my home for a decade,” Pokémon said. “But it’s time to say thank you for all the memories and love during my League, Fortnite, & Among Us days.”
The Amazon-owned company hopped into Pokimane’s mentions to congratulate her on the “incredible journey” she’s had these last 10 years, saying everyone’s proud of everything she’s accomplished while looking forward to seeing what she does next in her career. According to a Dexerto report, Pokimane explained that she’s not resigning a contract with Twitch because it’s “messy,” citing her desire to no longer be “emotionally invested in the changes” the company undergoes around things like artistic nudity. Basically, Pokimane just wants to have fun as a content creator, and as a result, she’s opting to take her talents everywhere instead of locking them to Twitch exclusively. You should expect to see her streaming on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube now.
Kotaku has reached out to Pokimane for comment.
We’ve had hints that this was coming for a little over a year now. Back in September 2022, Pokimane said that Twitch wasn’t “creatively fulfilling” any more, specifying that her intention was to stream less and use other platforms more. It seems she’s making good on this intention, as she hasn’t streamed on Twitch in about four days, but has been more active on other social channels.
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