Streamer SweetAnita finally spoke out after people rallied against her and called for Twitch to ban her “offensive outbusts” caused by her Tourette’s.
She suffers from acute Tourette syndrome, a condition that pushes one to make involuntary noises and movements called tics.
In some notable cases, these tics can be rather rude, taboo, or controversial. But then, it is something those affected by it have no control over.
In her streams, SweetAnita is one who unashamedly embraced her tics than suppress them on camera.
It’s then likely for her condition to start controversies, especially if she says something offensive without really intending to say it. This was the case after an outburst on her December 9th steam.
She explained how great it was “to choose to be socially appropriate and considerate and not just say the weirdest, most awful sh*t ever,” before her tic pushed her to say “kill the Jews” shortly afterwards.
The streamer looked absolutely devastated before she decided to turn off her stream.
It’s not the first time her tics brought her name in the hot seat.
For one, she used a racial slur before — to which she addressed in a stream.
“The N-word is on everyone’s vocabulary. We all know what it is and that it’s a word, and so does my Tourette’s. That doesn’t mean it’s something I believe or feel about anyone.”
She took it to Twitter to express her sentiments over the recent issue involving her name:
“HUGE thanks everyone who has been patiently explaining tourette’s syndrome to folks who have been confused or outraged by my n word controversy on twitter/reddit. The more people who understand the safer life becomes with people with tourette’s.”
“I’m trying my best in this situation but honestly it’s likely to happen again, the more people pressure me not to say it, the more my condition latches on to the phrase.”
Anita says it’s difficult when people just don’t understand Tourette’s. They would rather fixate on the “problematic” things she says, which is beyond her control, than looking at the positives.
Some fans were quick to jump on the Twitch streamer’s defense, saying:
“I’m sorry to hear this. I hope that Twitch can do some research and realise that Tics are uncontrollable and leave you be.”
“People just need to stop being overly sensitive about things in my opinion, and instead of pointing blame they should find out what is the other side of the story first.”
Sweet Anita has built an audience of 588k followers on Twitch, and 349k on Youtube.
The internet’s cancel culture has been prevalent in today’s world. One controversial issue from a rising online personality can tarnish or totally ruin his or her reputation for good.
But then, a lot of fans and those who side with Sweet Anita on this situation believes that words aren’t magic. No word should have the power to end a career on its own.
