By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Homophobic Tweet Leads Call Of Duty Streamer To Lose Their Skin
"We are focused on celebrating Pride with our employees and community," the Call of Duty developer tweeted.
It doesn’t pay to make hateful comments!
Video game developer Activision pulled the Nickmercs skin from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone after the Faze Clan streamer responded to a tweet with a homophobic remark earlier this week.
Nickmercs is a popular Faze Clan member who has 6.7 million subscribers on Twitch and 2 million followers on Twitter.
After the Call of Duty-centric website CharlieIntel speculated on Twitter that the Nickmercs skin was removed because of an anti-LGBTQ+ comment, the official Call of Duty account responded.
"Due to recent events, we have removed the 'NICKMERCS Operator' bundle from the Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone store," the official Call of Duty account wrote. "We are focused on celebrating Pride with our employees and community."
Due to recent events, we have removed the “NICKMERCS Operator” bundle from the Modern Warfare II and Warzone store. We are focused on celebrating PRIDE with our employees and our community.
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 9, 2023
The decision to pull the skin stems from a Nickmercs' bigoted response to a post Chris Puckett made on Twitter commenting on a clash between LGBTQ+ protesters and anit-LGBTQ+ hate groups outside of a California school board meeting.
“Americans are in a sad place right now,” Puckett wrote. “Let people love who they love and live your own life.”
Nickmercs tweeted a favorite conservative talking point as a reply, “They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.”
They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue.
— FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) June 7, 2023
While the tweet itself didn’t use any hateful language or slurs, it perpetuates the idea that the LGBTQ+ community is “unsafe” for children. Every time you turn around these days there is a new piece of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being passed, almost all of which uses children’s supposed safety as a shield to ward against claims that they are simply bigots.
Right-wing extremists and the conservative media have once again started claiming that queer and trans people are “grooming” children and have used this hateful rhetoric as an excuse to ban drag performances, restrict access to gender-affirming care, legislate public bathrooms and ban books.
The school board incident Nickmercs comment on ended with three people being arrested for obstructing officers and unlawful use of pepper spray, according to the Los Angeles Times. The protesters were battling it out over the school board voting on recognizing June as Pride Month, which the board unanimously approved.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
