Jenna reveals she might quit Twitch in first stream since racism scandal

Controversial Twitch streamer Jenna has revealed she’s considering “changing platforms” due to the website’s decision to de-partner and shadowban her after a series of her racist and homophobic messages came to light last month.

The 20-year-old Canadian has been embroiled in controversy over the past few weeks after racist and homophobic messages sent on her private Discord server were made public on Reddit streaming forum /r/livestreamfails.

While Jenna apologized for the messages—some of which dated back to 2016, and as recently as December 2019—and said she was “trying to better herself,” Twitch still stripped her of her precious partnership with the platform.

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Despite losing the Twitch partnership, Jenna went live on February 2 for the first time since the scandal initially broke. When she discovered she may have been shadowbanned, however, she admitted she may “change platforms.”

“Am I shadowbanned, actually? I don’t know how that works, I was asking about it but no one got back to me. I don’t understand how that works,” she said after one of her fans in chat told her she wasn’t appearing on any Twitch directories.

“If I’m shadowbanned then I’m going to have to switch platforms. You search my name and it doesn’t show… there’s no reason to stream on Twitch, because I can’t grow if my followers can’t see if I’m streaming. I’m basically Mitch Jones.”

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The controversial 20-year-old added she felt the punishment from Twitch felt “a little unfair,” especially after she “apologized and owned up to everything” in her series of messages on Twitter in the past few weeks.

“I sat there and cried while I was writing it,” she said of the initial apology. “I admitted what I did was wrong, I don’t know what else I can do. I want to show with my future actions I’m not like that. I haven’t been like that for a while.”

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Leaving Twitch would certainly be a bold call for the Canadian. According to TwitchTracker, Jenna boasts more than 263,000 followers on Amazon’s site, meaning she may be leaving a huge fanbase behind if she platform-hops.

While some of her fans likely transcend Twitch itself—she has just over 229,000 fans following her on Instagram at the moment—it could be a gamble if all of them follow her to other streaming options like Mixer or YouTube.

Going live ❤️ Positive vibes cause Im really nervous to stream ❤️https://t.co/c5t8x8WdAO pic.twitter.com/F5UrJmmHOy

— Jenna (@JennaTwitch) February 2, 2020

There may be some other options too, however. One of Jenna’s fans suggested she was shadowbanned because she had “too many viewers too fast” for someone who wasn’t partnered, meaning Twitch auto-flagged it for ‘botting.’

While there has been no confirmation that’s the reason she initially vanished from the website’s directories, if that is the case Jenna may be able to prove to Twitch she has reformed, and re-earn her place and partnership on the site.

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She did also confirm she wouldn’t be attending TwitchCon as initially planned too, admitting she was “basically a pariah” after everything that had come to light, and wouldn’t be able to secure sponsorships, attend any brand parties, or get anything out of going to the event.

Now, only time will tell if she will remain on Twitch, though the 15,000 unique viewers who tuned in across her two and a half hour return stream shows she certainly still has a fanbase that will support her despite the huge controversy.

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