Speed permanently banned from all Riot Games for the foreseeable future
Popular YouTube streamer, Darren "IShowSpeed" Watkins has been permanently banned from VALORANT and other Riot games, following a clip that shows him yelling sexist remarks at a female teammate.
The streamer is no stranger to this controversy as Twitch banned him in 2021 for sexist remarks on Adin Ross's stream.
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How IShowSpeed got banned
The clip went viral after being posted by Jake Lucky on Twitter. It then attracted thousands of comments from many in the gaming community with many calling for stricter actions from Riot.
In response to the clip, VALORANT producer, Sara Dadafashar made it known she banned IshowSpeed from not only VALORANT but other Riot Games.
“This is a huge yikes and we do not want players like this in our community at all. I went ahead and perma banned this player from Valorant, as well as all other Riot Games.”Sara Dadafshar
This ban means that Speed can no longer stream not only Valorant but League of Legends, TFT, Legends of Runeterra or even Wild Rift.
Also, YouTube's Global Head of Gaming Creators, Lester Chen responded to the viral clip saying that he was "on it". With YouTube currently reviewing the clip, it is not yet clear if IShowSpeed will continue to stream on YouTube. He also took to his YouTube to tell his followers that he may not be able to stream again. Speed boasts a follower count of almost 7 million and is one of the most followed variety streamers.
"Something happened a long time ago and its hurting me right now. I grew from that situation but now its coming up now. I'm not leaving but i don't know what is going to happen"
After the clip went viral, IShowSpeed came out with an apology video on Twitter. He stated the clip was from months ago and that he had grown to become a better person. He also explained that he was in a bad mood during the game and was a subject of racial abuse. Nevertheless, the words used in the clip can't be justified and many await YouTube's decision on the issue.
Additionally, Riot earlier outlined its plans to combat in-game toxicity in VALORANT. With the rise of in-game toxicity in FPS games, enforcing stricter sanctions among defaulters regardless of popularity could help improve the situation.
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