'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Steven "Destiny" and Hasan "HasanAbi" are the biggest political pundits on Kick and Twitch, respectively, with substantial followings across various platforms. The two share similarities in their political ideologies, with both being left-leaning and also sharing a somewhat pleasant past acquaintance.
However, with the eventual souring of their relationship, both have been outspoken in expressing their disdain for the other. They are often in the headlines for countering each other's opinions and speaking out against the other.
This article explores their rocky past and the reasons behind HasanAbi and Destiny's continuing feud.
Tracing the history of the feud between HasanAbi and Destiny
Brief political history of both streamers
Steven had humble beginnings, working as a carpet cleaner before picking up streaming in 2011. His career took off after he began delivering political commentary and moderating debates with other internet personalities.
He has widely covered right-wing politics on YouTube, frequently opposing extreme right and left-wing beliefs. Steven describes himself as an "Omniliberal," which is someone who believes in the essential ideals of liberalism (such as liberty and equality) while seeking to apply the best aspects of various other ideologies pragmatically.
Hasan, on the other hand, started by interning for The Young Turks (TYT), which is a progressive news show and network co-founded by his uncle. He started working for the organization in 2013 and only quit in 2020.
He started streaming in 2018 while working at TYT. By 2020, he had established himself in a respectful position on Twitch, with him being politically left-leaning and popularly identified as a progressive, leftist, and democratic socialist.
From being friends to falling out
Destiny and Hasan first met in 2018 at the Politicon, where the two participated in the "Post-debate Debate". The two then teamed up for a few streams together, and their association was perceived positively by the audience. Netizens were excited about further collaborations between the two. However, as we will find out, this never came to fruition.
Timestamp: 01:10:16
In 2019, things between the two soured as Steven called out HasanAbi, claiming he was spreading misleading information about Kamala Harris. This was after HasanAbi had made a video based on a thread on X, which was debunked by Steven in a live stream. Another aspect that caused their fallout was when Steven called Hasan out for "homophobic" comments:
"I still don't know how I feel about the 'bootyjudge' comments. I don't know if I would call it necessarily homophobic with those comments, maybe it is, I'm not sure... Wait, is Pete (Buttigieg) gay? Oh, whoa, holy sh**! Wait, those comments are super homophobic! Wait, what the f**k? No way!"
Hasan seemed to burn bridges with Steven as the two engaged in a heated argument on X about the same:
"love to see the dude i defended for his past and ongoing gamer moments numerous times to journalists, friends and even political campaigns flip on dime and try to claim i’m being homophobic for saying bootyjudge. very cool. definitely another w for the honesty column there."
The two talked about their now-strained relationship on an episode of the Scuffed podcast in 2020. Destiny stated:
"The history with us is that me and Hasan were friends a long time ago. I still like Hasan. Hasan f**king hates me."
To this, Hasan replied:
"That is a total, that is a total bullsh** point that even people that you haven't banned in your subreddit f**king call you out for. Okay? You don't f**king 'like Hasan' still, you just say that."
After further arguments about whether Destiny truly does "like" Hasan, the two then discuss the true reason behind their feud. Hasan continued:
"Destiny helped me a lot, initially, in bringing me into Twitch. When I was first- When I first got on Twitch, I linked up with Destiny, his community was very welcoming, as they usually are with people that Destiny fond to, or has a fondness for... and then we had a falling out over a Kamala Harris-"
Steven then interrupted the streamer and continued on his behalf:
"So, Hasan likes to make YouTube videos where he covers candidates whee what he does is find a Twitter thread which is one of those 'epic debunking' write-ups on the candidate. You basically read the Twitter thread down for a video. I did some more research on the positions and we tried to have a discussion about it and Hasan lost his f**king mind."
Hasan then talked about how he "lost his mind" due to Destiny trying to defend certain policies by politician Kamala Harris, which Hasan disagreed with. However, Hasan stated that this was not the only reason for his anger, pointing out Destiny's mannerisms:
"I f**king- the thing I hate is this debate lord mentality on the f**king internet... I think, personally, I think it manifests a really- it cultivates a really toxic mentality where like, you literally cannot have a conversation with another person who has even remotely a different position than you do. It's just frustrating to constantly butt heads with someone and then have his community come into mine, a much larger community, come into mine and clip sh** and try to continue the toxicity."
Their relationship today
Since then, Destiny and HasanAbi have butted heads over multiple topics. One of the most notable rows between the two was in 2021 on the usage of the "G-slur," which is typically offensive for Cubans, as well as the usage of the racially motivated word "Cr**ker". While Hasan believes it to not be an offensive term, Destiny disagrees.
The two also argued in 2023 over the Kai Cenat New York giveaway riot. Steven seemed to compare HasanAbi with Andrew Tate. He stated that the two are similar as, according to Steven, they both share a luxurious lifestyle while stating that they "hate liberalism."
Most recently, on January 17, 2024, Destiny called Hasan a "cringe-larping loser" after the latter asked a Houthi Pirate in an interview if he knew about the popular anime series, "One Piece" which features pirates as the main characters.
As the animosity between the two seems to continue, it may intriguing to see how the dynamic of the two biggest political commentators in the streaming sphere plays out in the future.
