Houston Outlaws Fires Overwatch Streamer Violet
| Tags: Overwatch
| Author Ophelie Castelot
The Houston Outlaws end their sponsorship with their partnered streamer Violet, effective “immediately.”
The Houston Outlaws released Violet from their content creation staff in a short text, a week after the team referred to the streamer using their dead name publicly.
is it wrong to hurt from getting let go thru a text
middle school breakup vibes rn pic.twitter.com/t1tbGpLCTy
— violet (@vibinwithviolet) June 30, 2020
Violet is a notorious Brigitte player and popular Overwatch streamer with almost 23,000 followers on Twitch. The Houston Outlaws signed Violet as a partnered streamer on January 1, 2020.
Today, the streamer makes an unexpected announcement: they are no longer affiliated with Houston Outlaws. They received word of their release through a text message, with no prior discussion or notice.
This announcement comes a week after the Houston Outlaws misbehaved towards Violet. On their birthday, the team referred to the streamer by their dead name – the name one was born with, but not the one they use.
Last night, the Houston Outlaws sent a birthday message to one of our family members, @vibinwithviolet. On that message, we're ashamed to say that Violet's dead name was included. There is no excuse for something like this to have happened and we own full responsibility for it.
— Houston Outlaws (@Outlaws) June 19, 2020
The team faced much backlash following this mistake. Using one’s deadname is not only about being born male or female. It is a reminder of a former life, which some would rather put behind them for various reasons. This action felt like a betrayal to the streamer, who always said they wanted to be referred to as Violet. Moreover, the initial tweet figuring Violet’s dead name included a typo.
Was this announcement a bad timing or a consequence of the events of last week? So far, the only communication is through Violet’s end. The streamer says they were released without notice following the deadnaming event on their birthday – which also coincides with Pride Month. Violet declared feeling lost and wondering about what they did wrong, as they could not talk to anyone from the Houston Outlaws.
ESTNN asked both Violet and the Houston Outlaws for comments, with no declaration so far.