Dimitri “Greekgodx” Antonatos, a controversial variety streamer with over 1.5 million followers, was banned on Twitch today following a stream that included a sexist rant about the role of women in his life. While it’s not entirely clear what prompted the ban, Antonatos said on Twitter (opens in new tab) that it had to do with twerking during the same stream.
As shared by Dexerto (opens in new tab), the rant in question begins with Antonatos addressing all women or female streamers who want to date him. “If you want to date me, you better believe that, if you’re streaming, you’re gonna have to stop streaming. Streaming is ended for you. Your career is done,” he said.
Greekgodx was banned on Twitch after a bizarre sexist rant where he demanded any woman he dates would quit streaming and be “in the kitchen” 🧵 pic.twitter.com/bVcaJuj1lOJune 28, 2022
“I will stream while you cook for me and you clean for me and you look after the children while I gain all the money and give it to you. … That’s how I want to run my life. Okay? That’s my life that [sic] I want to do it,” Antonatos says, describing two peoples’ lives.
In the clip posted by Dexerto, Antonatos goes on to call this arrangement “working together” and says “streaming is, believe it or not, mentally damaging to my mind.” The Greekgodx channel was banned by Twitch shortly after the stream ended, so the stream can no longer be viewed in its entirety.
While Antonatos’ views on relationships are regressive and sexist, it’s not clear if these statements actually led to his ban. One viewer seems to have captured the twerking moment (opens in new tab) that Antonatos claims got him banned. To my eye, this could be in violation of Twitch’s rules (opens in new tab) against sexual content, which are quite detailed at this point, but are summarized in the community guidelines thus: “sexually suggestive content or activities are prohibited.”
His rant, on the other hand, could fall under Twitch’s rules against hateful conduct and harassment, which restrict “any content or activity that promotes or encourages discrimination, denigration, harassment, or violence” on the basis of, among many factors, sex and gender.
In a reply (opens in new tab) on Twitter, Antonatos reinforced that the twerk got him banned and said he’ll “be back in 72 hours.” Streamers are not always provided with an explanation for bans by Twitch, as the high-profile case of Dr Disrespect (opens in new tab) showed.