Shroud Breaks His Silence On Ninja's Tax Rant

Comparisons between Shroud and Ninja are pretty common at this point. Both streamers are generally unafraid to speak their minds, and both have had something of a tumultuous year. Back in August, Shroud signed a new exclusivity deal with Twitch, marking his official return to the platform. Shroud's first stream back nearly broke a viewer record set by Ninja, who also returned to Twitch shortly afterwards. Now, a recent stream has brought up comparisons between Shroud and Ninja yet again.

Ninja caused a bit of an uproar last month when he brought up his high taxes during a stream. While playing Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, Ninja told his viewers that he was frustrated by the fact that he had to pay upwards of half of his income back in taxes every year. Ninja got progressively heated about having to pay around $25 million in income taxes, which led to Ninja's wife eventually telling him in midstream to drop the subject. Ninja's tax rant went viral, calling into question whether or not Ninja might be just a bit out of touch with his fanbase. 

Unsurprisingly, the extra attention drawn toward Ninja's tax woes has led to people asking other streamers about their views on the topic. Most recently, a viewer in Shroud's Twitch chat brought up how high the streamer's taxes must be in the state of California. The exchange can be seen in a clip shared by Twitch user RDubya. While Shroud acknowledged that his taxes were significantly higher than some people might be expecting, his overall thoughts on the matter may surprise fans. 

"I don't really, I don't really care too much about taxes," said Shroud. "You know I pay ... whatever the amount is, and that's it. You know ... it's out of the way."

As dismissive as that may sound on Shroud's part, this line of thinking actually led to some pretty wholesome remarks from the streamer. According to Shroud, the ability to do what he does as a career has made the frustrating aspects of his taxes much more bearable. He said, "[N]o matter what, to be in this position, of being somebody who plays video games for a f**ing living ... like, I genuinely don't care [about higher taxes]."

"Like, yeah, it sucks," he added. "Half of my money's gone, but I, the fact that I even have that much money in the first place ... Bro, I'm literally sitting here on my a**, doing nothing ... I really don't care."

Shroud concluded that he "can't complain" about his position, even if it may come with a higher loss around tax season. He acknowledged that it was difficult to have to part with that much money, but that it was okay in the end. More than that, however, Shroud said that he felt "grateful" to be able to continue to do what he does for a living.

While it would be easy to dismiss this exchange as a coincidence, a quick glance at Shroud's chat shows that viewers were definitely curious to see how his views would differ from Ninja's. One viewer pointed out that Ninja had just recently ranted about his taxes. Although Shroud never outright mentions Ninja by name during this clip, it is pretty obvious that Ninja's rant was why Shroud was asked about taxes in the first place. 

Jake Lucky of Esports Talk broke down the differences between the responses from Ninja and Shroud, which he felt highlighted the major differences between the two streamers. According to Lucky, Ninja may be more of a "polarizing" personality because he puts himself out there more often, which can prove to be both a blessing and a curse for his brand. Shroud, on the other hand, tends to try to stay more focused on the streaming side of things, rather than delving into politics or extensive merchandising.

Lucky posited that Shroud doesn't weigh in on these kinds of issues as regularly as Ninja does, which may actually work in his favor when it comes to attracting fans. Regardless of which streamer you're more interested in following, it's undeniable that Shroud has a tendency to offer a more reserved take on things. This may be why people usually seem to have more intense feelings regarding Ninja, whether they love him or hate him. 

This particular debate has also garnered Shroud quite a bit of love on social media. B/R Gaming retweeted the video of Shroud's take on taxes, saying that this was proof that Shroud is the greatest streamer ever.

Again, Shroud and Ninja are compared to one another quite frequently, but this latest tax debate may be one of the most prominent comparisons in recent memory. It's clear that Shroud's fans were curious to see how his take on the situation contrasted with Ninja's, and it's safe to say that Shroud did not let them down.