so i just got on tumblr for the first time in months, and i saw that an old clip (here) of vince dunn saying the n word had circulated. i was the original poster of this vid in may of 2020 and i just wanted to clear some stuff up and reiterate everything.
this clip is from vince dunn’s twitch livestream, and it’s him saying the n word while singing along to the song. some people have said that they can’t really hear it, but it matches up to the lyrics, he makes kind of an oh shit face right after, and honestly i hear it pretty clearly, so idk what to say on that. i also really don’t think whether or not it’s okay for a white person to say the n word in any context is up for debate.
he was streaming with three other streamers, aircool and two others whose names i can’t remember, a guy and a girl. the girl immediately told him that he can’t say that on stream, and to which he responded “say what???” and this was pretty much the theme for the night. he repeatedly insisted that he’d never said it, and aircool backed him up. other people clearly did hear it, though, because people were talking in chat about how they should keep this quiet to protect his career (lmao). either way, he insisted he didn’t say it, and was very upset that people were “mad at him.”
i clipped it when it happened, and the clip ended up being at the top of his page. when he realized this, he asked his mod if he could take it down, which he did, and he also took the entire vod (the recording of the stream) down, which he hadn’t in past streams. he also checked twitter, which i think spurred the whole “everyone is mad at me :(” shtick. i’ve seen a lot of people surprised that they didn’t hear about this earlier, and that would be why - his chat was very explicitly not mad at him and actively tried to cover it up.
some people have asked for clips/proof of the harassment towards the girl who called him out, and i don’t really have anything to offer there. it was just a really uncomfortable stream in its entirety, even before the n word incident. i think aircool and his other friend were primarily responsible for the bullying, but vince was definitely complicit and played it up. he was doing a lot of like crazy gestures (spinning his finger around his head) and side eyes whenever she talked, and at one point someone in his chat called her a crazy bitch and he read it out loud and nodded. i kind of got the vibe that he wanted to join in with the guys but also wanted to avoid looking like a complete asshole. later, they for some reason decided to spam her chat, and vince told his chat to spam her too, which is when a lot of the insults and death threats were sent. she apologized to vince after this and said she must’ve misheard, but given the situation i don’t think that apology is that reliable.
i honestly don’t think it’s possible to “call out” an athlete like this, and i don’t think he’s every going to face repercussions. and to me, saying the n word is only part of what makes this so shitty - it was also the constant doubling down, trying to erase all evidence, and encouraging his fans to attack the other streamer. i’m posting about this because it happened, it was bad, and this is an athlete that a lot of people look up to. obviously i have no control over who people support, and if you choose to continue supporting him, that’s fully on you. but i really encourage you to think about the media you consume and the relationship you have with public figures that you follow. this shit happens, and these people are not your friends.