NICKMERCS has spoken out after being banned on Twitch for using a transphobic slur, explaining his confusion at the situation when he returned to the platform over a week later.
On June 28, NICKMERCS received his first Twitch ban for using what he described as a “derogatory” term about transgender people, claiming that he wasn’t aware that it was derogatory.
At the time, he responded by saying “Next time I’ll just say mental health disorder” and didn’t attempt to contest the reason for the ban or suggest it was undeserved.
Banned for using the word “Tranny” on Twitch. Apparently that’s a derogatory term. That’s on me. Next time I’ll use mental health disorder. https://t.co/LAIcmD0dCB
— Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) June 28, 2024
While hateful conduct bans are typically 30 days long, Nick was back on Twitch 10 days later on July 8, and spoke out about the situation and his suspension.
“I didn’t f**king know, man,” he said during his return stream. “I didn’t know. They were saying it’s like saying the N word. I didn’t f**king know that. Why would I? Come on now… So they banned me for a week. To be honest it was good timing, I was going to Vegas.”
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When people in Nick’s chat said that “comparing to the N word is wild,” the streamer explained: “Look, I’m just telling you what they were telling me. I don’t understand either, okay, but I’m just reiterating how it had went.”
Nickmercs returned to stream after his Twitch ban "They said it was like saying the fking N word, I didn't know that" pic.twitter.com/FkxDYVWQml
— Hunter (@HUN2R) July 8, 2024
It’s unclear who exactly ‘they’ are that gave Nick this explanation, whether it was directly from Twitch themselves or from the wider community making the comparison.
The streamer reiterated that he wasn’t aware of it being a derogatory term, but suffice to say he’s unlikely to be rushing to use it on stream again any time soon.