Fact Check: Did Pokimane really say the N-word on livestream?

The recent Legacy Streamer award winner Imane "Pokimane" has had a relatively innocuous career. The Twitch powerhouse rose to fame back in 2017 and has since acquired a massive following on the platform. With over nine million people following her, Pokimane is currently the ninth most followed channel on Twitch, along with being the only female streamer in the top 20 list.

Pokimane is known for her laid-back streams and is generally not associated with controversies per se. However, back in March of 2019, an old clip of the streamer resurfaced on Twitter, which alleged that the Canadian had used the N-word in her early days.

---

The context of the N-word and Pokimane's subsequent apology

The Canadian streamer of Moroccan descent has consistently pulled in large viewers to her channel. A founding member of the popular content creator group OfflineTV, Poki has been a prominent streamer. Furthermore, as one of the few renowned female creators on the platform, she has become a pioneer for aspiring female artists and fans.

The allegations of Pokimane saying the N-word started in 2019 after a clip of her playing Riot's League of Legends went viral. Many on Twitter and other social media platforms started accusing her of saying the bigoted and hateful word that has been historically used to dehumanize black people.

The tweet by Keemstar, creator of Drama Alert, spread across the internet and has garnered almost a million views so far. If true, the consequences of using hate speech on Twitch would have been devastating. But unlike the clip from her early days, Pokimane had a legitimate excuse:

"Isaid "this anivia" (sounded like "this nivia"), aka a champion in league of legends."

Many Twitteratis came to her rescue as the alleged rumor caught the attention of YouTubers and streamers. The YouTuber SkyWilliams even had an explanation, proving that she had actually said "Anivia," a League character, on screen during her game:

"You can actually see your bottom lip affecting your teeth to bring a V. If you had said 'ga' your lips wouldn't have to move at all."

Twitch themselves did not take any action against Poki, leading many to believe nothing of consequence had happened. But in another clip uploaded by KavosYT the very next day, viewers had clear audio and visual evidence of her saying the word. She could clearly be heard spouting:

"Ni**a you ain't funny. That's not true, maybe you're just boring as f**k and lame as hell, because only lame ni**as say that shit."

Pokimane herself addressed the clip, claiming that during this period, the n-word was used in a "more common" manner:

"It was definitely not said in a racist or derogatory manner. it was a time period/environment where saying it was more common and used as a replacement for "dude.""

She even made a video, apologizing for the incident.

In the video, she makes it clear that she was in the wrong and does not condone racism in any way, shape or form. With that being said, if her recent behavior on streams are anything to go by, she has mended her ways.