OpTic Hutch calls out Nickmercs for transphobic statement following Twitch ban

OpTic's Shaun "Hutch" Hutchinson has called out Nick "Nickmercs" for his transphobic statement in response to Twitch banning him. For those who are unaware, the streamer's channel was recently taken down due to a violation of the platform's terms of services. While viewers had been speculating about a reason, the FaZe Clan co-owner claimed that the ban was due to his use of the transphobic slur "tra**y" on stream.

Posting a screenshot of Nickmercs's post on X, OpTic Hutch pointed out that trans youth are at a much higher risk of attempting suicide and that the statistics break his heart. He also called on popular influencers to stop bullying marginalized communities, calling that type of behavior despicable and cowardly:

"Trans youth are nearly 8x more likely than their peers to attempt suicide. These kind of numbers are truly heartbreaking. Influencers have enormous platforms and the choice to use theirs to bully such a vulnerable group with unrelenting cruelty is despicable, cowardly behavior."

For context, Nickmercs had this to say when Twitch banned him for using the derogatory term:

"Banned for using the word "Tra**y" on Twitch. Apparently that's a derogatory term. That's on me. Next time I'll use mental health disorder."

The exchange on X (Image via @Hutchinson/X)

OpTic Hutch's post has garnered much attention on social media, garnering over a million impressions within a few hours.

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Nickmercs' past controversies involving the LGBTQ+ community, explored

Nickmercs is a prolific Twitch streamer who joined Kick a few months after his first major controversy surrounding the LGBTQ+ community in June 2023. Back then, he made a post on X in response to MLG Puckett, who had shared a clip of anti-LGBTQ+ mob clashing with gay rights demonstrators outside a school.

In stark contrast to Puckett's post, which was about the marginalization of queer people, the 33-year-old wrote:

"They should leave little children alone. That's the real issue."

This drew backlash from much of the community and ultimately led Activision to cancel its partnership with the streamer, removing his likeness and operator skin bundles from the Call of Duty store. The controversy went viral, with many other personalities, such as Dr DisRespect, boycotting Call of Duty in its aftermath.

Soon after, Nickmercs doubled down on his stance and claimed that he would not retract anything he had said online, bringing us to a more recent controversy. Earlier in June 2024, the content creator went on a rant against trans people, claiming that they don't exist.

In a clip that has gone viral on social media, he said:

"There's no such thing as trans people. That's something that you created. So, have fun in your little dreamland, but that s**t is not even real."

Despite widespread backlash from the community, Nickmercs has continued to make such statements. Judging by his take on the Twitch ban where he equated being trans to having a mental disorder, it appears that he will continue doing so.

While his ban is temporary, Twitch is known to be quite hard on people who use derogatory remarks on stream. This means a second offense may cause his channel to get further penalties.

In related news, Nickmercs' friend Dr DisRespect's YouTube channel has been demonetized amid the controversy surrounding his Twitch ban. The 'Join' feature was removed a few days after the streamer confirmed he had sent inappropriate texts to a minor back in 2017.