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Hasan Piker

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Hasan Piker
Piker at Politicon, October 2018
Born
Hasan Doğan Piker

(1991-07-25) July 25, 1991 (age 33)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationRutgers University (BA)
Occupations
RelativesCenk Uygur (uncle)
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2018–present
Genres
Followers1,500,000
Associated acts
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2018–present
Genres
Subscribers795,400 (combined)
Total views132.2 million (combined)
100,000 subscribers2020
Last updated: September 13, 2021

Hasan Doğan Piker (/ˈpaɪkər/, Turkish: [haˈsan doˈan piˈcæɾ]; born July 25, 1991), also known as HasanAbi (abi meaning big brother in Turkish), is a Turkish-American[1][2][3] Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator. He has previously worked as a broadcast journalist and producer at The Young Turks and as a columnist at HuffPost. He is currently one of the most-viewed and most-subscribed-to streamers on Twitch, where he covers news, plays a variety of video games, and discusses politics from a socialist perspective.[4][5][6]

Early life

Hasan Doğan Piker was born in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey to immigrant Turkish parents, and raised in Istanbul, Turkey.[7][8][9] During his time in public school in Turkey he describes being bullied for his lack of physical fitness and questioning attitude.[10] He has described himself as an "outcast" in his youth who questioned the religious dogma he was taught in school and was interested in games and gaming culture; he would regularly read one of the few video game magazines published in Turkey.[9][10][11]

Piker returned to the United States and attended the University of Miami, then transferred to Rutgers University, where he graduated with a double major in political science and communication studies in 2013.[7][9]

Career

The Young Turks

During his senior year of college in 2013, Piker interned for The Young Turks (TYT), a progressive news show and network co-founded by his uncle, Cenk Uygur. After graduating, Piker was hired by the network's ad sales and business department. He would ask to host the show when a fill-in was needed, and later became a host and producer.[9][10] Uygur described his nephew as "magnetic" though "rough around the edges" at first.[10]

In 2016, Piker created and hosted The Breakdown, a TYT Network video series which aired on Facebook and presented left-leaning political analysis targeted toward millennial supporters of Bernie Sanders.[7][10] The show was nominated in the "Best Web Series" category at the 10th Shorty Awards in 2018.[12] Piker also wrote political content for HuffPost from 2016 to 2018.[13][14]

Piker created and hosted another TYT series in 2019 called Agitprop with Hasan Piker.[15] In January 2020, he announced his departure from TYT and his intention to focus on his career as a Twitch streamer.[11]

Twitch

Piker started streaming on Twitch in March 2018, while he was working at TYT.[8] Piker has said he shifted his attention from Facebook to Twitch in order to reach a younger audience, and because of what he felt was a preponderance of right-wing commentators on YouTube and a lack of leftist representation.[4][16][17] He became a popular left-wing political commentator, invited to appear on Fox News's The Issue Is and the political podcast, Chapo Trap House.[4][18][19][20] Piker also streams gameplay and commentary of video games on his Twitch channel.[11][21][22] His YouTube channels feature highlights of his political and gaming streams.[23]

During his stream on August 21, 2019, Piker criticized U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw for his support of American military interventionism overseas. Piker asked, "What the fuck is wrong with this dude? Didn’t he go to war and like literally lose his eye because some mujahideen, a brave fucking soldier fucked his eye hole with their dick?"[24][25][26] In the same stream, Piker criticized American foreign policy and made controversial comments relating to the September 11 attacks, including "America deserved 9/11, dude".[26][27] His statements caused outrage on social media and were covered by Fox News. Cenk Uygur called them "very offensive," and invited Piker to appear opposite him on TYT to apologize.[28] Piker has defended his criticism of American foreign policy while acknowledging that he should have used "more precise" language.[9][27][29] Twitch banned him for one week for the comments regarding Crenshaw.[30]

During the first 2020 United States presidential debate on September 29, Piker had over 125,000 viewers watching his reaction stream, the highest viewership of the debate on Twitch.[31] On October 19, 2020, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez collaborated with Piker and fellow Twitch streamer Pokimane to organize a stream of the Representative playing popular multiplayer game Among Us for the "Get out the vote" initiative.[11][32] The stream was aired the following day, featuring both Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar playing the game with Piker and many other popular Twitch streamers, reaching a total concurrent viewership of almost 700,000.[33][34][35]

Piker's stream covering the results of the 2020 United States presidential election peaked at 230,000 concurrent viewers and was the sixth most-watched source of election coverage across YouTube and Twitch, comprising 4.9% of the market share.[36][37][38][39] He was the most watched Twitch streamer during the election week; his 80 hours of streams were viewed for 6.8 million hours by an average of 75,000 concurrent viewers.[8][40][41] Piker's stream reached a new high of 231,000 viewers during the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.[42]

Leftovers

On September 26, 2021, Piker became co-host on the h3h3Productions podcast, Leftovers.[43]

Political views

Piker has been identified as a progressive, leftist and socialist.[4][8][23] He has advocated in favor of workplace democracy,[44] Medicare for All,[19] intersectional feminism,[23] gay and transgender rights, and gun control; he has advocated against war and against Islam critcs.[7]

Piker has cited his upbringing in Turkey under the Premiership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an influence on both his left-wing views and willingness to speak out about them.[23][45] Piker supported the presidential primary campaigns of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, and has been an outspoken critic of both the Democratic and Republican parties.[9][46]

Personal life

Piker was raised a Muslim and is of Turkish descent.[9][45] He is the nephew of Cenk Uygur, creator of The Young Turks.[47] Piker appeared in a 2016 short film called The Gym.[48]

In August 2021, Piker purchased a $2.7 million house in West Hollywood, California. The purchase was criticized online by people who felt it seemed to be in opposition to his views as a socialist.[49][50][51][52] Piker was again criticized after a large-scale information leak from Twitch which included Piker's monthly financial earnings. He responded by stating that his earnings have always been transparent, as his subscriber count has continously been prominently displayed on screen.[53]

Reception

Outlets dedicated to video game culture and youth culture have covered Piker's streams positively. In particular, journalists have noted his ability to "combine information and entertainment,"[45] and to approach left-wing political coverage in a way that is relatable and accessible to Twitch viewers, who may feel out of touch with cable news.[54][36][41][55] Some authors also cite Piker's vulgar, animated style of expression and his physical appearance as notable factors behind his popularity.[54][45]

Gaming website Kotaku selected Piker as one of their "Gamers of the Year" for 2020, citing him as a major figure in the mainstreaming of political commentary on Twitch, a platform which in the past was seen as discouraging to political discussion.[41][55][56]

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated work Category Award Result Notes Ref.
2018 The Breakdown Web Series 10th Shorty Awards Nominated Co-hosted with Francis Maxwell [12]
News & Information 2018 Webby Awards Nominated Co-hosted with Francis Maxwell [57]
2020 HasanAbi Like & Subscribe theScore esports Awards 2020 Won [58]
News 10th Streamy Awards Won [59]
2021 11th Streamy Awards Pending [60]

References

  1. ^ B., Rishabh (September 4, 2020). "Twitch sends Hasan a birthday gift, unboxing on Livestream". Sportskeeda. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  2. ^ Geddes, George (August 23, 2019). "Who is Hasan Piker, the streamer who said the US 'deserved' 9/11?". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  3. ^ Graziosi, Graig (August 21, 2021). "Left-wing Twitch streamer under fire after viewers see his $2.7m home". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Jackson, Gita (May 20, 2019). "Socialist Twitch Streamer Says He's Changing Minds". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "Most Watched Twitch Streamers, Dec 2020". TwitchMetrics. December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Twitch Subs Count Statistics". TwitchTracker. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "HASAN PIKER". Politicon. Archived from the original on June 28, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d Lorenz, Taylor (November 10, 2020). "How Hasan Piker Took Over Twitch". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Can Hasan Piker's Stream of Consciousness Save America?". Highsnobiety. January 27, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e Smothers, Hannah (February 20, 2018). ""Woke Bae" Hasan Piker Wants Your F*cking Attention". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d Park, Gene (October 21, 2020). "AOC playing 'Among Us' shouldn't surprise you. Streams are a beloved pastime". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "THE BREAKDOWN". Shorty Awards. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  13. ^ "Hasan Piker". HuffPost. Verizon Media. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Bajalan, Djene (July 31, 2016). "The Wrong Answer". Jacobin. ISSN 2158-2602. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  15. ^ "Agitprop with Hasan Piker". The Young Turks. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  16. ^ Breland, Ali (October 21, 2020). "On Twitch, AOC and Ilhan Omar Tapped Into the Future of Left Politics". Mother Jones. Foundation for National Progress. ISSN 0362-8841. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
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  19. ^ a b Michaelson, Elex (January 25, 2020). "The Issue Is: Hasan Piker v John Kobylt". FOX 5. Fox Television Stations. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  20. ^ Michaelson, Elex (July 29, 2020). "The Issue Is Podcast: A debate on government's role during the pandemic with Hasan Piker, Michael Knowles". FOX 11. Fox Television Stations. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  21. ^ Miceli, Max (January 13, 2020). "HasanAbi accidentally takes out teammate Greekgodx in Escape from Tarkov". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  22. ^ Lee, Jonathan (September 2, 2020). "Hasan was saved by a stream sniping troll during Twitch's Fall Guys tournament". Yahoo!. Verizon Media. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
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  29. ^ Michaelson, Elex (August 30, 2019). "Hasan Piker vs Gianno Caldwell on "The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson"". Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Grayson, Nathan (August 23, 2019). "Twitch Suspends Popular Leftist Streamer After Controversial 9/11 Comments". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Hsu, Tiffany (September 30, 2020). "They Watched the Debate … on Twitch". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  32. ^ Bailey, Dustin (October 20, 2020). "AOC starts a Twitch account to play Among Us with Pokimane and HasanAbi". PCGamesN. Network N. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  33. ^ Stephen, Bijan (October 20, 2020). "Watch AOC play Among Us live on Twitch with HasanAbi and Pokimane". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  34. ^ Brown, Abram (October 20, 2020). "Almost 700,000 People Flock To Twitch To Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Play Hit Video Game 'Among Us'". Forbes. ISSN 0015-6914. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  35. ^ Grayson, Nathan (October 20, 2020). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Streams On Twitch With Hasan Piker And Pokimane, Draws Over 430,000 Viewers". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  36. ^ a b Jackson, Gita (November 4, 2020). "Hasan Piker's Twitch Stream Is the Future of Election Night Coverage". Vice News. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  37. ^ Lerman, Rachel (November 2, 2020). "How people are obsessing over results (virtually) on election night". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
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  39. ^ May, Ethan (November 13, 2020). "Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet Live Stream Election Report". Streamlabs. Logitech. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  40. ^ Lister, Bishop (November 7, 2020). "Hasan Piker is Now One of Twitch's Top Streamers". Game Rant. Valnet. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  41. ^ a b c Khan, Imad (January 5, 2021). "Twitch Is Having a Political Renaissance". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  42. ^ Messner, Steven (January 6, 2021). "The storming of the US Capitol is currently Twitch's top stream". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  43. ^ Polhamus, Blaine (September 27, 2021). "Hasan, Ethan Klein debut political podcast The Leftovers". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  44. ^ The Young Turks (August 6, 2019). "Hasan Piker Challenges Cenk Uygur on Democracy In The Workplace". Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020 – via YouTube.
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  46. ^ Kelly, Makena (June 29, 2021). "Hasan Piker on the problem with YouTube debate culture". The Verge. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  47. ^ Levine, Jon (June 14, 2018). "Young Turks Network Sheds Senior Employees in Staff Shakeup". TheWrap. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  48. ^ Periwal, Saahil Agnelo (August 30, 2020). "Fans spot Twitch streamer 'HasanAbi' in a movie called 'The Gym', freak out after realizing what his role was". Sportskeeda. Absolute Sports. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  49. ^ Isidro, Charissa (August 20, 2021). "Socialist Twitch Streamer Endures Wrath of Twitter for Buying $3M Home". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  50. ^ Goforth, Claire (August 20, 2021). "Leftist star Hasan Piker sparks debate over his $2.7 million L.A. mansion". The Daily Dot. Retrieved August 21, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  51. ^ Graziosi, Graig (August 21, 2021). "Left-wing Twitch streamer under fire after viewers see his $2.7m home". The Independent. Retrieved August 22, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  57. ^ "NEW Webby Gallery + Index". NEW Webby Gallery + Index. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
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  59. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (December 12, 2020). "The 2020 YouTube Streamy Awards Winners List: Charli D'Amelio, Will Smith & Sarah Cooper Among Honorees". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  60. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 20, 2021). "YouTube Streamy Awards 2021 Nominations Announced, MrBeast Leads With Seven Nods". Variety.
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