YouTuber Scott Smajor has apologized after he promoted his Minecraft charity event on Twitter and was accused of overshadowing racial justice, amid the sentencing of Derek Chauvin, the murderer of George Floyd. Other creators have spoken out against the backlash he received.
On June 25, Derek Chauvin – the police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd – was sentenced to 22 years and six months in jail. The news sparked some outrage, with waves of people criticizing the decision not to give Chauvin a bigger punishment.
The day after, Smajor tweeted about his excitement for a Minecraft Championship charity event, which he had organized. All proceeds were to go to The Trevor Project, described as “the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people.”
However, he received backlash on the tweet as some so-called ‘Minecraft stans’ criticized him for taking attention away from Chauvin’s sentencing.
Smajor is known for collaborating with other Minecraft content creators, such as TommyInnit and Tubbo.Smajor promptly deleted the tweet and issued an apology. “I see a lot of people were upset with my ‘it’s MCC day’ tweet,” he said. “It is something I do every MCC event, but upon realizing the stuff going on in the world right now, I have removed it.
“Not being from the states means I don’t see a lot of the news from there super easily. Sorry if people thought I was trying to take away attention from black people who are trying to get their voices heard right now, that was never my intention.”
Sorry if people thought I was trying to take away attention from black people who are trying to get their voices heard right now, that was never my intention ❤️
— Scott Smajor (@Smajor1995) June 26, 2021
Smajor was met with support from major figures in the community, as Minecraft YouTuber Jordan ‘CaptainSparklez’ Maron told him there was no need for an apology.
He said: “There will always be suffering and struggling in the world, and while it’s good to be mindful of that, it’s absurd to be guilted out of your excitement about a completely unrelated event that’s also creating a lot of good.”
nah. there will always be suffering and struggling in the world, and while it’s good to be mindful of that, it’s absurd to be guilted out of your excitement about a completed unrelated event that’s also creating a lot of good.
— Jardon Maroon (@CaptainSparklez) June 26, 2021
100 Thieves co-owner Jack ‘CourageJD’ Dunlop also supported Smajor, but questioned whether he should have made the apology in the first place.
“You’ve literally put in work for months on this project, brought together so many different communities, and have already made so many people happy,” he said.
“You tweeted ‘IT’S MCC DAY!’ on the morning of your big event. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about other issues. Celebrate, dude.”
You’ve literally put in work for months on this project, brought together so many different communities, and have already made so many people happy.
You tweeted “IT’S MCC DAY!” on the morning of your big event. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about other issues.
Celebrate, dude.
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) June 26, 2021
CouRage called out directly some of the users that were making the accusations, asking how promoting his charity event was “taking over BLM.”
Wait…
Him tweeting “IT’S MCC DAY!” on the day of his biggest event he has ever planned because he is excited…
Is taking over the BLM movement?
Other quote RTs about this have already made personal attacks at me. Is that how this cycle of attacks continues? https://t.co/UuSqOXvO8K
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) June 26, 2021
Fellow streamer Hasan said that the accounts directing hate at Smajor “thrive on this,” and called it “carelording” – when a person cares too much about other people’s business and convinces others they should care too.
This was my last tweet about it.
I just had to tweet about it because it pissed me off so much to see more creators falling victim to this shit.
— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) June 26, 2021
Regardless, the event was a massive success, raising over $340k for charity and bringing in half a million peak viewers to the livestream, as Aqua Axolotls took the MCC Pride title.
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You can find more information about the cause, including how to donate, here.
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