Video streaming site Twitch has removed the PogChamp emote after its face, Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, made controversial comments about the violence at the US Capitol on Wednesday.
“We’ve made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today,” Twitch said in its statement on January 6.
“We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on–its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself–and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can’t in good conscience continue to enable use of the image,” the statement continued.
Twitch said it will work with its community to create a new emote for the “most hype” moments on Twitch. The PogChamp emote displayed Gutierrez’s surprised face, and it’s used in Twitch chats as a quick way to communicate a feeling of surprise or excitement.
Some popular Twitch personalities and internet celebrities weighed in on the news, including Jenny Nicholson and Sean Plott.
Good opportunity to create some kind of little creature for pogchamp, a cute cartoon twitch mascot. Name is Pogchamps but pronounced the way I imagine a little french guy would say it, like peaux-shoms
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) January 7, 2021
Yo @Twitch suggestion for PogChamp: create a database of streamer and/or general faces. Whenever someone types PogChamp, display one of those faces at random. Would give a really nice crowd feel to a chat spamming PogChamp and allow the meaning to be tied to all of us instead.
— Sean Plott (@day9tv) January 7, 2021
GameSpot will report back with more details as they’re made available.
