The Real Reason Jessica Blevins Threatened Pokimane With Legal Action

Pokimane has already considered quitting streaming this year after Twitch partner Jidion — with the alleged encouragement of Ninja – initiated a hate raid against her. Pokimane explained that it's difficult to work when others perceive her very presence as a problem, and she found it particularly disheartening that Jidion only received a two-week ban for his actions against her. Now there's a new development in the drama: Jessica Blevins has entered the chat.

Many gamers might know Jessica Blevins as Ninja's wife, manager, and the only woman with whom he'll spend extended time streaming. She acted in all her roles on Jan. 17, reaching out to Pokimane to threaten legal action on the basis of character defamation. Pokimane had streamed earlier in the day to recount her version of events involving the hate raid and Jidion, and Blevins took issue with some of Pokimane's statements. After Blevins personally DM'ed Pokimane, Poki shared screenshots of the message on Twitter, letting her fans in on their personal communication.

In the message, Blevins accused Pokimane of inviting harassment from her viewers after sharing false information. As with so many things, it turns out that the real details of what happened are a lot more nuanced than many viewers may realize.

Blevins' threat came after Pokimane spoke out about the situation on her own stream, explaining what happened both through her own perspective and through clips from some of Ninja's now-deleted VODs. Pokimane explained that Jidion and his viewers wanted Ninja to help the streamer avoid a ban, and Ninja said he would do what he could, apparently even moving to text his Twitch representative to consult on the matter. 

Pokimane said she found the behavior strange, and felt disheartened to see Ninja – a creator with a massive following of young people – seemingly advocating for the harassment of another streamer. Shortly after Pokimane commented on Ninja's behavior on stream, she said, Jessica Blevins reached out to her to "clarify" some things about the situation. Blevins argued that Ninja did not advocate for Jidion's behavior and that he wasn't involved in it. The only interaction he'd had with Jidion, Blevins said, was centered around playing "Fortnite."

Pokimane weighed her response, eventually shooting back a message asking Blevins to sympathize with her, both as a streamer and a woman who is subject to harassment from fans online. Blevins responded, according to Pokimane, by saying that she and Ninja would not apologize, and that Pokimane is guilty of doing the same thing she claimed Jidion did: making assumptions. In return, Pokimane referenced a now-deleted VOD in which Ninja praised Jidion and said he'd like to play "Fortnite" with him once he was unbanned. Pokimane explained that she told Blevins that she didn't feel like Ninja actually denounced Jidion's actions and sent additional clips from Ninja's stream to back up her points. 

Jessica Blevins did not immediately respond to Poki's statement, but now she's made her stance clear.

In a later message, Blevins wrote, "We are considering everything defamation of character at this point and are getting our legal team involved. You are spewing lies to tens of thousands of people." Blevins took issue with Pokimane's account of the hate raid, particularly her statements about Ninja's involvement in it. Blevins continued to say that Ninja "NEVER reached out to anyone" to get help for Jidion and that Ninja actually tried to discourage harassment. Blevins concluded by writing, "You are actively bringing harassment to Tyler and I right now at the highest level and we are taking this very seriously."

Pokimane followed up the screenshot from Blevins by saying, "I think Jessica is trying to say that Ninja PRETENDED to text his Twitch representative, which I'm willing to accept and cannot disprove." 

On her personal Twitter account, Pokimane showed a clip from her stream in which she displayed a message from Ninja himself, which read, "Hey, so I just want you to know I swear on my grandfather's life, who just passed away, that I didn't text my twitch rep. And you are making a big mistake." Pokimane's followers quickly analyzed the message, determining that it did indeed sound like a threat, especially the final sentence.

Others didn't think the situation was that big of a deal, with one commenter saying "at this point who cares. Jidion is perma banned. You won. What more do you want out of the situation?" Indeed, in the days since this whole drama began, Jidion has been handed a permanent ban from Twitch — mere weeks after becoming verified and partnered on the platform. However, as another commenter explained, Pokimane likely wants the reassurance that she's not being gaslit by others, and that the events actually did unfold as she said. Fans will have to wait and see how the next steps in the feud between Pokimane and Ninja play out.