FaZe Clan member Virus under fire for speaking out against Pride Month

FaZe Clan’s Talal ‘Virus’ Almalki has come under fire for a now-deleted tweet about Pride Month, contrasting FaZe’s post in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

June is recognized as Pride Month in the United States and, increasingly, in other parts of the world, with people taking time to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

On June 1, FaZe Clan posted a tweet wishing a happy Pride Month to their almost 6 million followers, “Sending love to our LGBTQ+ friends, family, and community.”

While the org received plenty of support for the tweet, there were also a number of negative responses.

Happy Pride Month! Sending love to our LGBTQ+ friends, family, and community 🏳️‍🌈❤️ pic.twitter.com/mZL3GnqT09

— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) June 1, 2022

One of those who responded to disavow the post was Virus, who was one of the winners of FaZe Clan’s FaZe5 recruitment challenge back in December 2020.

Shortly after FaZe’s tweet, Virus quote retweeted it saying that this position isn’t held by him, despite being a member of FaZe Clan.

“Just to clarify that I don’t support any kind of LGBTQ or anything similar even if ‘FaZe’ does,” he said in the now-deleted tweet. “I’m a Muslim,” he added.

While the tweet was deleted, there were immediate calls by some to have Virus dropped from the organization.

Drop him @FaZeClan pic.twitter.com/wdA8DTTHeU

— Kitzi (@xKitzi) June 2, 2022

Since deleting the tweet, Virus hid replies to his tweets if they include a screenshot of the post.

FaZe Clan have had LGBTQ+ representation within their organization for some time now. Deaf Fortnite player Soleil ‘Ewok’ Wheeler came out as the first transgender member of the org before his departure in 2021, while current streamer Kalei Renay is openly bisexual.

happy pride month ❗️❗️i came out as bisexual a year ago and was always scared too, now i’m happier than ever knowing i can own who i am!

you are loved, important and valid ❤️🏳️‍🌈

— FaZe Kalei (@KaleiRenay) June 1, 2022

Virus has not posted about the situation since deleting his tweet, despite the backlash to his comments, with thousands of tweets directed at him.

Dexerto has reached out to FaZe Clan for comment.

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