Tyler “Ninja” Blevins seemingly came from nowhere. While he was already popular in his bubble as a Halo 3 and Fortnite streamer, it was only when he co-streamed with rappers Drake and Travis Scott in 2018, breaking Twitch’s peak concurrent viewer count record, that he entered the mainstream. Since then, it’s been what you could charitably describe as an adjustment phase for the formerly blue-haired star.
In 2018, Ninja was rapping along to a song on stream and slipped a racial slur into the lyrics, despite the song not containing any. He later apologized and attributed the incident to being tongue-tied. That same year, he came under fire for saying he won’t stream with women in case anyone thinks they’re flirting.
While I am confident that most of this is a misunderstanding, I recognize that it’s my responsibility to never let there be THIS kind of a misunderstanding. More than anything, I hate that any of my friends, fans, or viewers might feel disrespected. (Tweet 1)
— Ninja (@Ninja) March 29, 2018
In June this year, Ninja sent Twitter into a meltdown over a now-deleted tweet that read: “I am in the middle of carrying a league of legends game about to close it out, and my bra-less wife brings me a sandwich (not asked for) with chips as I get a double kill bot lane. So how is your day going?”
Since then, his Twitter feed has been much safer, focusing on streams, announcements and retweeting fan comments. We recently got the opportunity to ask the streamer some questions during a press tour promoting his part in the UNO Championship Series Invitational Tournament. While some of our questions were killed by the PR agency – there’s no word on whether he regrets past controversies or if he’s now got a social media team handling his Twitter feed – we did get some insight into the impact fame has had on him.
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“I don’t go to the grocery store anymore,” he tells USA Today. “I literally can’t. There are some things that you simply can’t do. There are things you don’t even think about either, when you don’t have people watching you, judging you, and paying attention all the time. I have to worry about what I say on social media. I can’t rip my teams when they do bad – my Lions, man – because I know the players and I know it will hurt their feelings. So I can’t be a normal fan on Twitter or anything. That’s just not an option.
“I realize how lucky I am. I get to do so many things because of this life. I’ve gotten to meet so many people, and influence so many people. I had a streamer tell me the other day that when he explains what he does for a living, he just tells people he ‘does what Ninja does’. That’s crazy. I’ve also been able to raise awareness and money for some incredible causes. I just made a huge commitment to the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Michigan, for an all-new gaming lounge, [and] with other partners that include the Pistons, Big Sean, and my team the Lions. That’s incredible. Most of all, I still have so many people that watch my streams and enjoy them. The fans will always be the best part of this.”
Outside of that, Ninja plans to continue growing his brand by streaming games and partnering with companies. Hosting the UNO Championships is a part of that growth.
“I love Uno. Always been a fan,” he says. “The OG game. The new digital app. As just a gamer, I know how exciting tournament play can be, and I’m excited to have a front-row seat for these tournament games. I love how games and competition bring people together; though I know UNO can get pretty serious. We have a thing with the Ninja brand, where we always want to do firsts, so when I was asked to co-host the inaugural UNO Championship Series Tournament, I knew I wanted to do it. And I’ll get to crown the first-ever UNO World Champion. It’s the Superbowl, the Wrestlemania, for UNO. Hopefully with less tackling and bodyslams.”
The tournament aired last week.
Written by Kirk McKeand on behalf of GLHF.
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