The Botez sisters, Alexandra and Andrea, came under fire over comments on human rights during a Twitch stream in Dubai but have clarified that “if you don’t listen to the entire discussion, certain nuances are going to be missed.”
Alexandra and Andrea Botez are currently in Dubai at the time of writing for the World Chess Championship, an ongoing match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi.
With viewers of their stream discussing the laws and lifestyle in Dubai, and some speaking down on the country, the sisters spoke out about the situation.
While they obviously didn’t think their comments would be controversial, it became a huge topic of discussion within the stream, with the pair later having to address it once again to explain their comments.
“Here’s all I’m trying to say,” Alex said. “We’re in Dubai, so I’m not going to say anything in particular about this country, the only thing that bothers me is when people from first-world or developed countries sh*t on developing countries for doing things that those developed countries also did in the first place.”
Alex did suggest that that’s not the end of the discussion, though, adding that “We will have some conversations when we’re back in the U.S.”
Alex clarifies comments
That wasn’t the end of it, though. Alex later clarified her comments after some backlash from viewers.
Despite saying that “we can chat about certain things at home,” Alex didn’t want to end her point there.
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“It’s not that ‘other countries did it, so we can do it as well’,” she explained. “This is a longer discussion, we’re not going to be able to … if you just listen to sound bites and don’t listen to the entire discussion, then certain nuances are going to be missed.”
Botez backlash
With the stream ending just a few minutes later, many fans and critics failed to buy into what the Botez sisters were saying, including questioning why they can’t question human rights abuses.
Others didn’t have quite so nuanced a response, with one user on Twitter simply saying that it was “pretty cringe.”
https://twitter.com/kiltyourself/status/1467783164160458753
Regardless, the comments made by the streamers seem to have riled a few people up, but there’s no doubt Alex and Andrea will be addressing the situation once they arrive back home in the States.