LoL streamer 'TF Blade' has been suspended from Twitch for "allegedly" using a racial slur

[Scratches]

Popular League of Legends streamer and Team Liquid sub Ashkan 'TF Blade' Homayouni has been suspended 30 7 days for supposedly* using the n-word... and it's going as well as you would expect 🤷‍♂️
*(context: he is from Iran, so speech fluency may be a factor)

You can hear what he said at the 29:49 timestamp:


Here is the direct audio:


Of course he denies it all.

(you can go to Twitter clicking the image)

And everyone is taking his side. Shocking, right?
He definitely didn't say the word, he said "negative". Oh, wait, that was another clip... uh... maybe it was the microphone? Or his tongue tied? Nah, he clearly said NIDIOTS duh!

So we have our Riot Games employees, like 'Riot Blaustoise', struggling to find an excuse:



Other popular streamers, like 'Yassuo', using ableist language:


And dumbfucks like former pro 'IWillDominate' trying to shift the conversation and the attacks to the women streamers on Twitch:

And succeeding... what did you expect?


The League of Legends community is supporting him all the way.

• Oh is that the clip people are complaining about? I heard idiots the first half dozen times and ive been looking for the N word and thinking the link was wrong lmfao
• Ya i cannot hear the N word, he clearly says idiots. something TFBlade says a lot too. I just dont hear it at all, this cannot be the clip he got banned for
• If that is truly so, I am then absolutely astonished and disgusted at how the decision was taken. If it was 2-3 Twitch Staff members or less (that stand responsible for the suspension), then please put them on thin ice or just fire them already, and call it a day. There is absolutely not a single way on Earth that TFBlade expressed the N-Word in the clip. Stop seeking for trouble or reasons to shutdown a channel, Twitch, it makes you look power-hungry and pathetic. Jesus Christ.
• Yeah his tongue tied there, he 100% said "kill these idiots"
• It sounds absolutely like nothing else. I watched the clip twice and didn't realise he apparently said the n word until this comment. What a joke.
• Sounds a whole lot like he says "kill these idiot." I showed it around to my league buddies and they all seem to hear the same thing, granted we all grew up in the same area and went to the same very diverse High School. Maybe if you aren't exposed to many accents it can be hard to understand what he says, I'm not sure.
• So, apparently when he says "just kill these idiots" people are hearing the n word instead of "idiots". I have no idea how anyone hears anything other than idiots. It does almost sound like "nidiots" but theres clearly a d and t sound after the n and certainly no g or r sounds. So I have no clue how this could possibly be the clip that got him banned.
• Wow this is actually hilarious. People hear the n-word here? The original clip being linked around in bot lane was actually closer, at least there was an n in that word lmao.
• The literal Youtube close caption bot catches "idiots". Either they just don't want to admit their fucking mistake or the entire Partner Conduct team should be fired immediately
• Not sure if trolling or actually deaf, even youtube CC read idiots.
• YADDA YADDA YADDA

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We even have the classic They Are the Real Racists™


After the "shitstorm", the folks at Twitch decided to reduce his ban:

24th Apr 2019 from TwitLonger

Hey Ashkan,

Just heard back. I've been told that after you submitted your appeal, to be as objective as possible they had numerous people listen to the clip, and unfortunately they all also heard the N word. Even after asking to listen for idiots, they couldn't hear it. Because of that, they were originally leaning toward leaving the full 30 day suspension. That being said, I relayed your response, and highlighted your history, specifically your lack of previous infractions, and after further review, the appeals team has agreed to reduce your suspension from 30 days down to 7 days.

As I mentioned to you on Twitter, Twitch takes hateful conduct extremely seriously. I believe you when you say you weren't being hateful, but it's really hard to argue with the fact that several people on the Partner Conduct team all heard the N word in an objective review of your clip. I don't believe you're a hateful person, and I hate seeing my partners get suspended, just as I know you're really frustrated by this situation. I know this wasn't the outcome you wanted, but I hope you can agree that this is still a better outcome than the original proposal which was a month long suspension.

Let me know if you have any questions - I promise to help address any you may have to the best of my abilities.

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But it's not enough, because they are "literally ruining" his reputation


Maybe he really said NIDIOTS (with a g sound in there too), but I don't even care at this point. The lack of introspection and the retrograde mentalities coming always from the "gamers" communities are tiring as fuck.

So what do you think?

 

[Zero-ELEC]

I'm sure he'll be fine when he get Trending Gamer of the Year award at the next Game Awards.

Fuck everyone involved that's bending over backwards to protect racist idiots. And, you know, fuck racist idiots.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Streamer is acting far too entitled. Sounds like the N word to me on that 29:49 timestamp.

 

[Kalentan]

So at first I thought I heard it but honestly after listening to the direct audio it's hard to not hear: "Idiots"

Edit: Listening to it a few more times. Yeah, I can't hear the racial slur.

People are acting like a bunch of idiots but in the end from what I can tell he didn't say what he's being accused of.

 

[Janna OP]

I don't hear the N word. Pretty hard to not hear "idiots," especially after posting the direct audio lol.

Pretty quick to condemn this guy for saying something as harmless as that lol.

[/unquote]

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[Calibro]

It's definitely "idiots", like the Twitch moderators in this case. First that Kotaku fuckup, now this, why are people looking to get offended?

 

[TouchOfGray]

Sorry, I hear idiot also.

 

[TakeshiZero]

He clearly says the N word wtf

 

[Ridill]

I hear idiots. Idk.

 

[o Tesseract]

He clearly says 'idiots'. If you go in expecting to hear the n-word, I can see how you would though. On subsequent listens it's clearly idiots.

 

[RockmanBN]

I'm hearing idiots

 

[Becks']

If I think of N-word, I can hear him say it but unclear.

If I think of idiots, I can hear him clearly say idiots.

It's like Yanny or Laurel.

Ban him if said the n-word though.

 

[JamboGT]

This should definitely be called out and bans, never mind suspensions, should be given but I definitely just hear idiot in this clip.

 

[ShadowAUS]

To be honest I don't hear the N-Word being said in either clip but that may just be me. To my ears it starts off with an N-I and ends with a T-S, the audio is fairly noisy so I can't be 100% but I don't really hear a purposeful G in there though it also entirely doesn't cleanly sound like D-I-O you would expect with 'idiots'. Any of this could be down to accent and an individuals style of speaking though.

What I do think is quite possible, is that he WAS starting to say it and transitioned into idiots after realising what he was about to do. I see little other reasons for the N at the start there otherwise. If anyone could attempt to clean the audio up a bit (if even possible) I would love to hear it.

 

[Hybris]

The edgy version of yanny/laurel

 

[RROCKMAN]

I hear idiots too actually

 

[Rodjer]

I hear "idiots".

 

[Synohan]

Its quite clearly idiots.

 

[ZeroX]

I think it's his accent throwing me, it sounds like a fusion of the two words.

But a 7 day suspension? Eh, can't say it strikes me as a big deal.

 

[SoldnerKei]

he said 'idiots', listen carefully next time

 

[HamSandwich]

Yeah I actually hear "idiots"

 

[edgefusion]

I really can't hear anything but 'idiots' to be honest.

 

[BurstLayer]

I very clearly hear idiots

 

[Kalentan]

I think the biggest thing for me is that you can clearly hear the: "Id" part of "Idiot" every time.

 

[hey it's that dog]

If I try I can hear the n-word but I think he's saying idiots.

This very much in the category of ambiguous stimuli that can be perceived differently based on expectations.

 

[Numberfox]

I hear idiots...

 

[Trevelyon]

I hear "idiots", twitch should reinstate him immedailty. Unless he has a reputation for 'misheard' or slur shit talking.

 

[Einbroch]

As someone who has watched him in the past, this really does sound like he's saying "negative" and "idiots" in the two clicks floating around. He used to REALLY slur his speech when he started and it was hard to understand him, and he still "ny-" a lot of his words.

 

[Sleepingdragon]

Sounds like he's saying Idiots to me.

 

[Ababol]

He says idiots and it's very clear when you slow it down. Twitch is being ridiculous as always.

 

[Wetwork]

Heard idiots. Nowhere near as bad as Pokimane's incident a month or two back. But she got a pass and no ban

 

[Vampirolol]

I heard "idiots" only after reading it, at first I heard something like a n-word... sounds like when your brain wants to say something and you say something else in the meantime so you come up with a confusing word.

 

[inner-G]

It definitely sounds like he says 'idiots' to me

The edgy version of yanny/laurel

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Lol that's what I thought too when I was listening to the isolated clip

 

[Woetyler]

I see white and gold

 

[Yasumi]

That was definitely "idiots".

 

[Jimnymebob]

It's hard to tell with the accent and low quality, but it's defintely 3 syllables, so unless he pronounces his slurs bizarrely, I'd guess he said idiots.

 

[ShapeDePapa]

"Holy shit kill these idiots" is what I can hear.

 

[Garrett 2U]

For Twitch to crack down on this, but let all of the other subtle racism slide is absurd.

Whenever there is even the slight mention of a black person, the Trihard emote is spammed.
I've seen streamers say "Watermelon" or "Chicken" just to incite the chat into spamming that emote.
Streamer's will joke around, interacting with chat when they are asked to "say it".

It is childish and embarrassing behavior for the content produces on such a large platform.

 

[HiredN00bs]

Just as a thought experiment, what if he was going to say the slur but corrected mid-word? How ought we judge such behavior? Is it secret racism leaking through a deceptive facade? Is it someone trying to reform their bias and grow? Does the vector of somone's moral development matter, and how can we perceive and interpret it in an honest way?

For Twitch to crack down on this, but let all of the other subtle racism slide is absurd.

Whenever there is even the slight mention of a black person, the Trihard emote is spammed.
I've seen streamers say "Watermelon" or "Chicken" just to incite the chat into spamming that emote.
Streamer's will joke around, interacting with chat when they are asked to "say it".

It is childish and embarrassing behavior for the content produces on such a large platform.

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These examples give an impression of pedantic and shallow moderation.

 

[Deleted member 41931]

I think they're saying idiots, but I think the "an" and "idiots" weren't well definied and created a sound similiar to the "ni" in the n word. I can understand how someone can heart the n word.

 

[Haribokart]

Sounds like 'idiots' to me.

 

[Dringus]

I hear idiots

 

[Ebullientprism]

That really does sound like an unfair ban to me.

The community grinding their own axe on this is pretty much business as usual.

 

[Error 52]

I keep going back and forth between "N***ers" and "Idiots"

Enough ambiguity that Twitch should probably just unban him.

 

[Varixio]

I hear idiots as well.

 

[Deleted member 31817]

I only hear the n word and cant hear idiots even if I try.

If it's that up in the air I guess they should reverse the ban entirely but not surprising at all the community's response is absolutely garbage.

 

[RROCKMAN]

I wish we could stop feeding the anti sjw crowd. When you factor in the non native speaker thing it seriously feels like persona all over again.

 

[DFG]

People with accents really have trouble with certain words. That's just how it is. I really don't think he said it, should just ignore this and if it comes up proper, issue a proper suspension/ban

 

[Trickstah]

I heard "idiots". His accent makes his English not fluent from the sounds of it and Twitch staff wanted to hear what they wanted to hear. It's crazy.

 

[Oggmeiler]

I hear him saying "idiots" very clearly.

Blade´s accent, fast way of talking and slight speech impediment makes it hard for some people too hear it I guess.