A gamer with a large online following has apologised after dropping an N-bomb in a live stream.
Tyler Blevins, who uses the handle 'Ninja' on video streaming sites Twitch and YouTube, reportedly makes $500,000 a month playing popular shooting game Fortnite.
He was streaming the game with a friend on Thursday (NZ time) when they decided to put on some music, opting for a rap song '44 More' by Logic. Blevins began singing along, ad-libbing in the word 'n****r' - which is not in the song's original lyrics.
His friend, on camera, visibly winced, reported gaming news site Kotaku.
Warning: The video in the tweet below contains language that may offend.
Blevins tweeted an apology on Twitter, saying there was no "mal intent" and that he didn't intend to use the racial slur.
"While I am confident that most of this is a misunderstanding, I recognise 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," he wrote.
"It is my job, and hopefully I'm usually good at it, to make everyone feel welcome, valued, and safe to be themselves. So I apologise to anyone who might feel hurt because I NEVER want that. It's my stream, and it's on me to make that right
"The best way I can explain it is that I promise that I understand how much pain that word causes, even if it gets used a lot in music and elsewhere. It's a word historically used to divide people, and I'm about bringing people together.
"I promise that there was no mal intent (I wasn't even trying to say the word-I fumbled lyrics and got tongue tied in the worst possible way). Again, I apologise for offending anyone and appreciate you all rocking with me."
Blevins is the most-subscribed streamer on Twitch, has more than 1.2 million followers on Twitter and a whopping 6.4 million YouTube subscribers. Rapper Drake joined him for a game of Fortnite two weeks ago.
The controversy comes after YouTube cracked down on popular video maker Logan Paul, after he filmed and mocked the bodies of suicide victims and Tasered dead rats.
- YouTuber PewdiePie attacks media, says sorry for 'anti-Semitic' jokes
- YouTube suspends ads on Logan Paul's channel due to video of him tasering dead rats
Last year, popular YouTuber PewDiePie was heavily criticised for his use of the N-word and alleged anti-Semitism.
Newshub.
