Brandon ‘Atrioc’ found himself at the center of a lot of controversy not long ago. On January 26, 2023, the co-founder and content creator of OFFBRAND was discovered using a tab on his browser that had deepfakes of well-known streamers. Popular and well-known creators, including Maya Higa, Pokimane, QTCinderella, and many others, were featured on the in-question link.
Atrioc came under intense criticism as a result and was at the heart of the debate for several more days. The streamer then gave an apology, during which his wife joined him, and he ultimately resigned from his position to focus on fighting the deepfake-pornography epidemic.
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The deepfake controversy
Shortly after it occurred, footage from Atrioc's January 26, 2023, feed went viral due to the streamer pausing to play his game. Observant viewers picked up on the fact that his browser was displaying deepfake pornography.
Particularly, viewers picked up on the fact that the website offers deepfakes of well-known streamers like Pokimane and QTCinderella for a fee. Before the tab went viral on the internet, Atrioc initially avoided mentioning it. The deepfake debate was brought up by others the following day, including Valkyrae.
The discovery made both streamers and fans feel disgusted. QTCinderella, in particular, used the internet to voice her opinions. The streamer lost it after discovering the existence of deepfakes and while watching Atrioc's webcast. She also declared that she intended to sue the individual who made it.
Ludwig, QTCinderella's boyfriend, made it clear that he didn't want to be perceived as protecting Atrioc but believed that this one serious error would be enough to turn the streamer around.
In HasanAbi's video, he made explicit reference to Atroic's deepfakes as being ‘weird and gross’, but he also addressed Ethan Klein. The author of the content made fun of deepfakes, and, in particular, QTCinderella's response to the circumstance. But since then, he has expressed regret for his actions.
Although deepfakes are not a new phenomenon on the internet, having such a well-known streamer publicly display them, even accidentally, caused a stir online. Many criticized him for using his money to watch the deepfakes of other Twitch streamers, many of whom were probably his friends before.
Apology from Atrioc
Atrioc returned to Twitch on January 30, 2023, this time with his wife seated next to him. He denounced the deepfakes in a 14-minute stream, calling them ‘disgusting and wrong’.
The streamer made it clear that he didn't tolerate this kind of conduct from his viewers and avoided making crude jokes about women. He said he wished women on Twitch would feel more secure.
The streamer claimed that one night he was on a typical sexual video website when he clicked on an advertisement that led him to the deepfake website in issue. But every video he watched featured deepfakes advertisements, and eventually he ended up there.
The streamer claimed that his passion for AI art and music was the inspiration behind everything, which is probably why he saw so many advertisements for it on the adult website.
Atrioc apologized, shut down the feed, and then added another apology to their Twitter account. He expressed regret to the women who were hurt by the deepfakes, including Maya Higa and Pokimane, through Twitlonger.
‘You paid for it’
Divergent opinions were expressed in response to his apologies. Many people rejected it and accused him of contributing to the issue because he had spent money on these deepfakes. Others, however, were grateful that he made an effort to assist in taking down the website.
A Twitter user @sarah_the_lucky said, “Stfu you paid for it. You contributed to the problem. You are a freak and I hope you never have any female friends ever again. You would’ve continued if you hadn’t gotten caught and that’s obvious. Disgusting pervert.” Another user tweeted, “this 'apology' is nothing but at LEAST you take some sort of accountability for what happened, and called out the weirdos that continue to support your actions. many people and i don't accept this though.”
