A League of Legends streamer and former pro player was banned on Twitch during a live broadcast after making a joke about Hawk Tuah while playing the game.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Hawk Tuah meme, here’s a quick rundown. The meme originates from an interview with TimandDeeTV, where Hailey Welch’s response to a question quickly went viral, becoming a widespread internet phenomenon.
The meme gained immense popularity, spreading beyond its original TikTok platform and being referenced in various other online spaces, including gaming streams.
As the meme became a hit, it was only a matter of time before it started being used in jokes across different platforms. However, getting banned from Twitch for referencing it in a joke is quite a rare situation.
On September 19, Pobelter was hit with a Twitch ban during one of his streams. The reason? He made a Hawk Tuah joke while playing League of Legends (Clip incident starts at 6:34).
“I was playing Ryze and split pushing when I said, ‘Hawk Tuah, split on that lane,’ and then five minutes later, I was permanently banned from Twitch.”
“Hawk Tuah ruined my life.”
In the video of the stream, we can see the broadcast abruptly cut off 16 minutes in, while Pobelter was waiting in queue. The joke was met with some cringe reactions from his chat, but it wasn’t long before the stream was taken down.
Fortunately for Pobelter, the ban didn’t last long. Twitch reversed the decision just an hour later, and his channel was restored.
“Thank you to everyone who supported me through these trying times. I will never say Hawk Tuah again,”
While it’s hard to say if the ban was really due to the Hawk Tuah joke, as Twitch rarely provides specific reasons for banning streamers, many found the situation amusing. It’s possible that something else led to it, but the idea that he was banned solely for making the joke has become part of the humor surrounding the incident.
Whether or not the joke was the cause, Pobelter and his fans seem to be enjoying the lighter side of the situation.