Call Of Duty Pulls Twitch Streamer Nickmercs' Skin Over Anti-LGBTQ Comment
Activision has pulled a Call of Duty skin based on the hugely-popular Nickmercs after he made an anti-LGBTQ comment on Twitter.
Earlier this week broadcaster Chris Puckett tweeted about a local clash between “Pro-LGBT protestors” and bigots near his apartment, to which Nickmercs—referencing a popular rallying cry of the increasingly unhinged right wing media machine, which baselessly asserts that trans people and drag performers are somehow child abusers—replied “They should leave little children alone”.
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They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.
— FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) June 7, 2023
Nickmercs, a co-owner of the esports collective Faze Clan, is an extremely popular streamer, boasting just over 4 million subscribers on YouTube and 6.7 million on Twitch. That’s on top of his own lengthy resume in esports.
Nickmercs was swiftly condemned. As this Dexerto roundup summarises, he was rightly rounded on by many notable members of the Call of Duty and wider esports community, including broadcaster Goldenboy, who said “I’m disappointed in you Nick. Teaching acceptance and tolerance for EVERYONE is a valuable life skill for all ages.”
Loopy, a coach at Vexed Gaming, had even stronger words, saying:
I will never work/watch a MFAM event again. I cannot in good conscience work for a bigot. I am a Marine and swore to uphold and protect the constitution which protects protests and demands equality for all.
“Peace and love” unless you’re gay or trans? What a loser.
Earlier this morning Call of Duty site Charlie Intel reported that Nickmercs’ own skin—which had only been announced a month ago—had seemingly been removed from both Warzone and Modern Warfare II, with its store page returning a dead link. After initially stating that “Activision has not commented” on the matter, the official Call of Duty account later replied with a statement, saying:
Due to recent events, we have removed the “NICKMERCS Operator” bundle from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone store. We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.
If you were wondering if Nickmercs ever apologised for his comment, that process went about as apologetically as you would expect:
“I didn’t mean to upset anyone, I know that I did. I’m not apologizing about the tweet because I don’t feel like it’s wrong”
NICKMERCS responded to the backlash over his tweet pic.twitter.com/gLKHUULkvr— Dexerto (@Dexerto) June 8, 2023
Correction: 6/9/2023, 10:45 a.m. ET: The headline has been changed to reflect that Nickmercs streams on Twitch, not YouTube.
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