Jaryd Lazar, known better by his online handle Summit1g, is a fairly popular Twitch streamer who specializes in Fortnite: Battle Royale. In a bid to increase viewership, he recently brought famous YouTube “star” Jake Paul to his stream, however his existing viewership responded negatively to the team-up due to his controversial nature.
Jake Paul, brother of Logan Paul, was embroiled in a major YouTube controversy which was sparked by a video in which Logan uploaded sensitive material of a recently deceased individual in an area of Japan known for suicides. The ensuing controversy was elongated a few times by the less than ideal reaction of the Logans. As a result, public reacting towards them isn’t exactly shiny, and it was seen that teaming up with Paul was a morally questionable move on Summit1g’s part. Several fans were vocal about their disapproval.
While the co-stream’s intended goal was to increase Summit1g’s viewership, some fans outright unsubscribed from him as a direct result. Many of the complaints were directed at Summit1g’s growing percieved toxicity on his streams, as well as the fact that the event was seen as him ‘sucking up’ to Paul in spite of public misgivings simply to gain additional subscribers. Following the stream, his reaction to the fans’ complaints was just oil on the fire, as he banned people who were loyal followers for years.
In a now-deleted Tweet, Summit1g demanded apologies for the controversy, and during the stream he often vocally called out viewers and fans who voiced their concerns about Jake Paul’s participation. In the wake of the event, it seems that Summit1G permanently lost a chunk of his viewership which will take some time to build back up. Then again, many Twitch streamers thrive on controversies and in the end, his ultimate goal of becoming even more popular may be achieved.
