Controversial political commentator and streamer Steven “Destiny” Bonnell was recently banned by Kick, his primary streaming platform. The company cited “hate speech” as the reason. Another popular streamer, Asmongold, has now condemned Kick’s decision, labeling it “asymmetrical” and hypocritical.
“I disagree with this, I don’t think he should be banned,” Asmongold said during a July 17 stream. He added how Kick allows “people that are committing felonies” to stream with no issue, making its approach to Destiny hypocritical. The streamer agreed that Destiny’s actions warranted some response, believing it would have been more appropriate to take away sponsorship deals and partnerships rather than outright removing him from the platform.
Asmongold clarified that actions do have consequences. However, they likely won’t be accepted if they are “asymmetrical” as he puts it, and expressed hope that Destiny would be unbanned even though he doesn’t “necessarily agree” with his comments. “I think that he has the right to say it,” the streamer said, adding that freedom of speech and being able to “say bad shit and not have to worry about it” is the reason people came to Kick in the first place. Asmongold wasn’t the only one calling out Kick’s double approach, as some fans online have also pointed out the company’s “double standards.”
Destiny has been at the center of a recent controversy after he allegedly made comments mocking the death of a spectator present during the attempted assassination of former U.S. president Donald Trump. The person in question, a firefighter from Pennsylvania, was shot and killed. Destiny wrote and spoke on the topic extensively, with some of his presumed comments being the reason behind his removal from Kick. The creator was also demonetized on X (formerly Twitter) for the same reason after the company’s current owner, Elon Musk, was made aware of the discussion.
