Atrioc Faces Twitch Drama Due to Explicit Deepfake Subscription
Updated Feb. 1 2023, 11:49 a.m. ET
Streamers can be controversial for a wide array of different reasons, but a recent controversy around Twitch streamer Atrioc has left even many regular Twitch users shocked.
The controversy started after Atrioc inadvertently revealed that he was subscribed to a website that can create explicit AI images. After this revelation came out, Atrioc posted a video in which he offered an apology.
Atrioc was exposed after briefly showing his browser.
Recently, a clip began circulating online that seemed to reveal Atrioc's subscription to a website that creates explicit deepfakes. In the clip, Atrioc briefly reveals all of his tabs, and while he doesn't address the site on the stream, users were able to pull that clip from his stream and circulate it widely online. The site apparently offers deepfake explicit images of several prominent streamers, including Pokimane, Maya Higa, and QTCinderella.
Atrioc apologized after the clip began circulating.
As the backlash against Atrioc began to gain traction online, he posted a video with his wife in which he addressed the situation.
“This is so embarrassing,” he said in the video, and then explained that he had taken an interest in both deepfakes and AI art recently. He explained that he had found the site through ads.
“I got morbidly curious and I clicked something. It’s gross and I’m sorry. It’s so embarrassing," he continued.
He also went out of his way to say that this wasn't something he looked at regularly. He even said that he could post a receipt proving that he had paid for a receipt on the same day the clip was released.
“There is no excuse for it. I’m not defending it in any way, I think this whole category of stuff is wrong,” he added.
Some streamers have responded to the controversy.
Some of the streamers who were featured on the site have spoken out, focusing most of their ire on the site as well as Atrioc.
"I want to scream. Stop. Everybody f--king stop. Stop spreading it. Stop advertising it. Stop. Being seen 'naked' against your will should NOT BE A PART OF THIS JOB," QTCinderella wrote in response to the news.
Reportedly, Atrioc and QTC are even friends with each other and have previously appeared on streams together in the past, making him appear wildly untrustworthy.
"I literally choose to pass up millions by not going into sex work and some random cheeto-encrusted porn addict solicits my body without my consent instead. Don't know whether to cry, break stuff, or laugh at this point," streamer Sweet Anita added.
Pokimane, another one of the streamers who was targeted in the deepfakes, quickly followed up with the controversy having tweeted, "Stop sexualizing people without their consent. That's it, that's the tweet."
Fans were also outraged over the site, and the agency it removes from the women who didn't consent to have versions of themselves depicted there.
"That's so horrible, I hope there is a way for a site like that to be taken down. I couldn't believe it when I saw the list of how many women were put on that site," one person wrote on Twitter.
It isn't clear whether there will be concrete consequences for either Atrioc or the person who created the site, but the backlash online has certainly been fierce.