Ninja Breaks His Silence On FaZe Dubs Controversy

Recently, streamer FaZe Dubs landed himself in hot water when he was caught on stream using a racial slur during a game of Fortnite. Though the person he was playing with immediately reacted and told Dubs that they were live when the word was spoken, the damage had been done.

FaZe Clan took to Twitter to announce that Dubs was suspended from the team indefinitely and that the clan was taking steps to ensure no one on the roster would make the same mistake. "FaZe Clan will not tolerate any form of hate speech," read the statement. "We are requiring Dubs to go through sensitivity training and proactively requiring all FaZe Clan members to go through sensitivity training immediately."

This is an admirable move from the embattled FaZe Clan. The organization has seen its fair share of embarrassing moments within the last year. This whole fiasco comes hot on the heels of their firing of FaZe Jarvis, who was caught using an aimbot during a livestream. FaZe Clan has also been embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit with Tfue, who had major issues with his FaZe Clan contract.

A few notable streamers have weighed in on the controversy, including Tfue, who found himself in a very similar situation in the past. Tfue said that he truly believed that Dubs wasn't a racist, despite saying something extremely ignorant in a public forum. According to Tfue, the whole incident appeared to be an unfortunate slip-up on the part of the young streamer.

However, the most notable reaction may have come from Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. In a clip captured by YouTube account Fortnite Moments, Ninja appeared to be hearing of the controversy for the first time while on stream with Reverse2k. 

As soon as Reverse2k told Ninja what FaZe Dubs said, the incredulity in Ninja's voice is immediately recognizable as he responded with, "He what?" As the two continued their game, Ninja processed the news and gave his thoughts on the whole ugly situation, which he said makes him feel "uncomfortable."

It sounds as though Ninja looked into the controversy, because he continued shortly thereafter with, "I think what makes that even worse is that, like, the reason he said it was because he thought no one was streaming."

Ninja seemed to concur when Reverse2k suggested that Dubs should be dropped from FaZe Clan, even agreeing with the theory that Dubs may have done this as a misguided way of getting out of his contract. However, Ninja also had another take on the situation that took into account the young age of the streamer. 

"I don't even know what to say — about the whole situation ... Like, chat, I'm going to break it down for you — just the reality of it all," Ninja said. "Saying that word — like the hard-R and everything — off-stream, because you think you're off-stream, and then just apologizing about it, like the way that he apologized about it ... it's just the typical apology. I mean, he's a kid, I don't know, it's just so stupid. The whole thing is — he shouldn't have said it ... If no one was streaming, like, he shouldn't be saying it, no matter what."

Ninja is in a rather unique position to weigh in on a situation like this. In fact, Ninja is no stranger to kicking up controversy himself. Back in 2018, Ninja came under fire when he was heard using a racial slur during a stream while he sang along to a song by Logic. He apologized deeply for the incident, but it's interesting to note his stance on apologies in this instance. It seems as though Ninja feels some allowances should be made for Dubs' young age, which may factor into his shortsightedness in this situation. 

For FaZe Dubs' part, the streamer has issued a public apology on Twitter, which read: "I can't even describe how sorry I am. I did not intend to be hurtful in any way but what I said was still hurtful, insensitive, and wrong. The word shouldn't have been in my vocabulary and I apologize from the bottom my heart to everyone I offended by using it."

This apology didn't seem to cut it with many people, however. One such response was from actor and comedian Jeff Leach, who called Dubs and "idiot." Leach also added, "That word only slips out if it's a go-to in your normal vocab anyway. I've never 'slipped that word out' and most other folks haven't either."

This is yet another high profile example of a streamer's words and actions negatively impacting their career. Hopefully this will set an example for others, who won't make the same mistake.