With “bikini streams” and the “hot tub meta” in full swing on Twitch, fans of streamer YouTuber superstar Valkyrae were not pleased when they thought an article by the New York Post lumped her in with the trend.
Rachel ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter is co-owner of 100 Thieves and one of the most-watched female streamers on Twitch; what she isn’t however, is a so-called “bikini streamer.”
Hot tub streams, or just streams featuring a scantily-clad streamer interacting with their audience, have become more popular than ever lately. They’re even reaching mainstream news outlets like the NY Post, who came out with a story about the trend on May 8.
The story quoted Valk’s defense of hot tub streamers, but the lead-in to her blurb is what caught the ire of online fans on Twitter once the story started being shared. Her quotes are introduced just after a line that reads “Bikini streamers were quick to defend the practice.”
Valkyrae’s comments from the May 8 NY Post article.Gamers outraged over New York Post’s Valkyrae “bikini streamer” snafu
To be fair, the Post’s article does address Hofstetter as “the internet’s most-watched female streamer” and never directly refers to her as a bikini streamer.
However, many in the gaming community interpreted the way this piece was written as the outlet essentially grouping her with those who do stream in that manner.
They literally said “Bikini streamers were quick to defend the pratice” and went directly in to quotes by Rae. They 100% called her a bikini streamer, do to lazy, sloppy writing.
— Just A Camera (@VegasVanguards) May 8, 2021
Others took it a step further than just muddled writing though, saying it was shocking to see what they called a “blatant lie” placed right in a mainstream publication about their favorite streamer.
Its actually scary how often “reputable” news sources just blatantly lie in their pieces.
— Kevi 🍀 (@KeviSkillz) May 8, 2021
imagine calling valkyrae a bikini streamer when 99% of the time shes in an oversized sweater and she doesnt even stream on twitch lol what a dogshit article.
— acab (@Mr_Mojo_Risin__) May 8, 2021
Finally, there were even fans offering to “handle” the problem for Valkyrae (whatever that means). Based on this take and all the others, it’s clear she has plenty of supporters in her corner willing to back her up.
@Valkyrae don’t worry about them. I’ll handle it.
— cryptic incognito (@CrypticNoHoes) May 8, 2021
The YouTube star has yet to comment on the situation and seeing as she hasn’t weighed in at all at the time of writing this article, it might be a while (if ever) before we hear her thoughts on how exactly the quotes were presented.
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