Twitch streamer Adin Ross recently expressed that hot tub streams should be banned from the platform. The statement garnered varying reactions from regular Twitch viewers, many of which seem to disagree with the streamer.
Ross is well-known for his Grand Theft Auto 5 and NBA 2K streams, but his popularity shot up when he featured problematic internet figure Andrew Tate on stream – who he plans on visiting in Romanian jail soon – and initially made plans to interview Kanye West. The streamer has also been banned from Twitch multiple times, with reasons ranging from hateful conduct to showing his bodyguard punching someone live on stream.
Apart from his choice of stream guests, Ross often has clips of him saying polarizing comments on certain topics. On his January 20 stream, he called on Twitch to put a stop on hot tub streams once and for all, claiming that it’s “promoting poison” and “feeds an addiction” as he compared the content to gambling streams. He criticized the platform for banning gambling quickly, while hot tub streams were simply given their own Twitch category to separate them from regular Just Chatting content.
As the Twitch clip made rounds on social media, many online users didn’t seem to be on board with Ross’ suggestion, calling him hypocritical for featuring Tate and accusing him of doing inappropriate acts on stream. Some users also criticized him for seemingly antagonizing women streamers for how they earn money on the platform, while one said in a tweet that they couldn’t take anything Ross says seriously because of his association with Tate.
Hot tub streams have long been a subject of contention as streamers like Amouranth would get their ad revenue pulled or get banned for wearing revealing clothing and sexual content. The content might be controversial for many, but Twitch also made a good call to make a separate category for them to allow advertisers to opt-in and opt-out from categories of their choice, while also helping audiences find the content they’re looking for on Twitch.
Some might argue that hot tub streams shouldn’t be conflated with gambling as Ross first suggested due to the problems that arose from the latter in the past. Twitch clamped down on gambling last November after issues of streamers defrauding people started surfacing, and although it was already too late on the platform’s part, many viewers and streamers still thought it was a good move. The jury’s still out on whether hot tub streams “feed an addiction,” but many Twitch viewers and streamers don’t seem to think that’s the case.
