Adin Ross started his career as an influencer in October 2018, by live streaming on Twitch, a prominent gaming platform. Ross’s popularity soared in 2020 when he started broadcasting NBA 2K games. These broadcasted games featured Bronny James, Lebron James’s son, whom he met through a mutual gaming group. Since then, Ross has amounted to over 7 million followers and expanded his channel by welcoming rappers as guests on his live stream. These artists include Lil Yachty, Sheck Wes, Lil Tecca, Blueface, Lil Wayne, and Travis Scott. Ross’s popularity quickly skyrocketed as he captivated his audience through playful banter and star-studded appearances.
Now, four years later, Ross is permanently banned from Twitch for showing unmoderated hateful comments in his live stream chat. Ross’s relationship with Twitch deteriorated before this permanent ban, which led him to switch to Kick, an alternative streaming platform with less restrictive terms of use. However, his transition to Kick hasn’t changed his crude behavior. Recently he received a temporary ban from the platform for streaming pornography to his viewers, many of whom are minors. In addition to sharing these videos, Ross uses his platform on Twitter to spew hateful comments. Through his tweets, Ross proclaims that “there are only two genders” and claims that if he had “blue hair and makeup”, he wouldn’t have been banned from Twitch at all. Most recently, Adin took to Omegle, offering his followers $100 if they were to “act black”. This comes on the heels of his interview with fellow streamer, Trainwreck, where he asked the streaming mogul whether “men could be raped.” So, what prompted Ross’s ideological shift?
His behavior can be traced to one individual in particular: Andrew Tate.
In October 2021, Ross admitted to feeling lost on Twitch and that he was actively seeking a sense of grounding and purpose. Shortly thereafter, Ross met Tate when Ross invited the popular self-proclaimed misogynist to be a guest on his live stream. Immediately, Ross was captivated by the controversial British kickboxer. As the two grew closer, Ross’ misogynistic tendencies intensified. Most notably, Ross started to make homophobic jokes to amass followers on Twitch, which resulted in a fracture of his relationship with the company. In total, his hate speech and inappropriate content amounted to seven short-term bans from Twitch in just one year.
In 2022, Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Romania on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and organized crime. According to the Romanian authorities, Tate and his brother are suspected of forming an organized criminal group that focuses on producing sexually exploitative videos featuring underage girls. However, these heinous charges have not stopped Ross from advocating for Tate’s release. Ross showed his support for Tate by calling on President Joe Biden to issue a presidential pardon on Tate’s behalf while continuing to use his influence to spread Tate’s divisive content. Despite the brief time the pair have maintained a relationship, Ross made a shortlist consisting of only three people who were allowed to visit Tate while he was held in a Romanian prison on the abovementioned charges. Since Tate’s incarceration, Ross has picked up where the British boxer left off by parroting his lines and catchphrases, adopting his misogynistic ideology, and creating enemies with his streaming colleagues he once called friends. Recently, Ross altered his physical appearance to look more like Tate, demonstrating just how far Tate’s influence extends even while he is behind bars. As of April 3, 2023, Tate has been released from jail and is currently on house arrest.
The days of Ross being just a NBA 2K20 video game player are long gone, as he continues to wade into the depths of misogyny. He has completely abandoned his once playful reputation to vehemently defend Tate. Only time will tell if Ross continues down the path of deifying Tate, but one thing is for certain: Ross’s misogynistic views did not materialize out of thin air. Ross’s change in ideology is a blatant example of the dangers of the dissemination of misogynistic ideals and the damaging effect that they have on even the most idolized figures. Armed with these ideals and a platform, with millions of subscribers, Ross can influence the minds of young men nationally.
While these platforms can serve as a space for expression, they also set the stage for the dissemination of harmful and offensive speech through the platforms of these popular influencers. The CSE Institute encourages the public to remain vigilant in educating themselves on the danger of the dissemination of misogyny. Blindly following influencers that spread hate speech can lead to the normalization of misogynistic language, ultimately becoming detrimental to achieving an equitable society. To read more about the dangers of young men glorifying a misogynist, please visit The CSE Institute’s web post here.
This piece is part of our first-year law student blog series. Congratulations to author Morgan Almeida on being chosen!
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.