Hasan Piker

{{cquote|[[Iran]] needs [[Mao Zedong]] thought.|||Hasan Piker on [[Twitter]]<ref>[https://archive.is/6juIq iran needs mao zedong thought]</ref>}}

[[File:Hasan Piker 2018 (cropped).jpg|right|165px|thumb|Piker at the 2018 Politicon.]]{{internet}}
'''Hasan Doğan Piker''' (also called '''HasanAbi''', meaning "elder brother" in Turkish) {{lived|July 25, 1991}}<ref>[https://nationaltoday.com/birthday/hasan-piker/ "Hasan Piker birthday"] - ''National Today''</ref> is a popular [[Turkey|Turkish]]-[[United States|American]] leftist streamer on Twitch with over 2.7 million followers. Piker had previously worked for [[The Young Turks]] and is the nephew of the creator of the show, Cenk Uygur.<ref>[https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/hasan-piker-interview/ CAN HASAN PIKER'S STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SAVE AMERICA?] Highsnobiety</ref> Although popular among many left-wingers, Piker has attracted criticism from across the political spectrum.

==Controversies==
===Controversy over reaction content===
Hasan primarily does reaction content, or videos where he watches content for the first time and gives his thoughts as what he's watching plays. However, some creators, including those whose content he has shown on stream, have taken issue with how Hasan goes about this, noting he commonly fails to say anything of substance during these reactions and will sometimes leave his stream while the video continues playing, something he is aware of to the point of once saying one could make an entire compilation of him leaving while the video he is supposed to be reacting to plays.<ref name=jay>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TVSfHbpR6k Hasan Piker, Jinx, and the Issue of "Reaction" Content] YouTube</ref>

In 2022, Jay Exci, a YouTuber who Hasan had reacted to, went over Hasan's segment and noted how little was properly contributed to the video being shown. Similarly, she broke down the justifications made by Hasan and his fanbase in order to explain why she finds these arguments to be lacking. Of note, she points out many of Hasan's fans commonly blame the person whose content is being used for Hasan not contributing anything to the video while watching it, discussing how difficult it is for creators to avoid these situations even if the work fails to fall under fair use.<ref name=jay/>

To be clear, Jay stresses that she is fine with reaction content on its own as long as it is transformative,{{efn|Logically, given that is one of the standards that must be met for a piece of content to be Fair Use.<ref>[https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/ U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index]copyright.gov</ref>}} even giving examples of creators that she felt do the kind of reaction content she approves of. In the process, she also draws comparisons between Hasan and Jinx, a YouTuber who had previously gotten into controversy for spamming out large amounts of reaction-based content where he commonly contributes very little while watching a video; she notes that Hasan tends to do better than Jinx at doing the bare minimum and attempting to comment while watching something, even if she finds Jinx to be better at shouting out the original video in the end.<ref name=jay/>

There is also a veritable cottage industry of HasanAbi react channels out there.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/Hasan_Piker/comments/y8r6yg/why_are_there_so_many_different_hassan_youtube/ "Why are there so many different Hassan Youtube channels"] - r/Hasan_Piker</ref> This creates a sort of weird phenomenon where Hasan will "react" to content, and these various channels will then feature Hasan's content in turn and profit from this. Fans of Hasan have dubbed this the "HasanAbi Industrial Complex."<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/LivestreamFail/comments/ojsnc5/the_full_extent_of_the_hasanabi_industrial_complex/ "The full extent of the HasanAbi Industrial Complex"] - r/LiveStreamFail</ref>

===Hasan's House===
Another area of controversy regarding Hasan involves his choice to purchase a three-million-dollar house in Los Angeles County in 2021. Some on the left, such as socialist activist Alexis Isabel, argued that "it's just flat out unethical to be profiting off of socialism and buying yourself a 3 million dollar home in a state that has one of the highest homelessness rates in the country."<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/hasan-piker-house-twitch-streamer-criticized-los-angeles-2021-8 Leftist political commentator Hasan Piker faces criticism for buying a nearly $3 million home in Los Angeles County] Business Insider</ref>

Arwa Mahdawi, discussing this controversy in ''The Guardian'', notes how she personally understood the claims of hypocrisy from Hasan's fanbase, but she personally does not see it as a big deal and could easily imagine Hasan getting in trouble for buying a modest home for equally understandable reasons:

{{quotebox|Look, if you’re making a living through socialist politics then you shouldn’t be surprised if people raise an eyebrow when you shell out millions of dollars on property. That said, I don’t really care about Piker’s fancy new house. There is a strain of purity politics on the left that means that nobody seems to be able to do anything correctly. Had Piker bought a more modest house in a cheap neighbourhood, for example, he would probably have been accused of being a gentrifier. Instead of wasting all its time in-fighting, the left really ought to exert its energy building a broader base and trying to actually get into power. Let Piker enjoy his fancy new pool. There are bigger fish to fry.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/24/can-a-socialist-live-in-a-two-million-dollar-mansion Can a socialist live in a $2.7m mansion?] ''The Guardian''</ref>}}

Hasan himself fired back at these criticisms by noting, similarly, that his only other options are renting or buying a house in a less affluent place, which could easily be considered gentrification given Hasan's massive wealth. He also told his audience “listen if you’re mad at me tax the fuck out of people like me,” showing that, despite his wealth, he is in favor of fixing the various problems people are pointing out.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/socialist-twitch-streamer-hasan-piker-get-grief-from-twitter-for-buying-dollar3-million-los-angeles-home Socialist Twitch Streamer Endures Wrath of Twitter for Buying $3M Home] The Daily Beast</ref>

It should be noted that, despite his wealth, he appears to still be advocating for left-wing politics, so this decision did not seem to signal a noticeable change in his personality or politics, at least judging by his creative output.

===Dog collar===
Proving that even internet figures are not immune to a [[manufactroversy]], in October 2025 he was accused of using a shock collar after his dog yelped once on stream.<ref>[https://www.out.com/voices/straight-nonsense-hasan-piker-s-dog-collar Straight Nonsense: Quit hounding Hasan Piker over his dog collar], Moises Mendez II, ''OUT'' 10 October 2025</ref> This was quickly debunked, as it was shown that the collar was merely a vibration collar with a piece of black tape to conceal Hasan's phone number, but that didn't stop [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorists]] from trying to dig though his streams frame by frame to find "evidence" that it's secretly a shock collar.<ref>[https://www.usermag.co/p/hasan-piker-and-the-future-no-one Hasan Piker and the Future No One Is Ready For], Taylor Lorenz, ''Usermag'' 15 October 2025</ref>

===Other controversial actions===
Hasan's public statements have also caused him to receive massive backlash at times.

====9/11 comment====
In 2019, while criticizing the right-wing views of Republican Dan Crenshaw, Hasan said “America deserved 9/11, dude.”<ref>[https://kotaku.com/twitch-suspends-popular-leftist-streamer-after-controve-1837518859 Twitch Suspends Popular Leftist Streamer After Controversial 9/11 Comments] Kotaku</ref> Piker later apologized for this statement on The Young Turks, saying that although he believes US foreign policy in the pre-9/11 era led to the attack,{{efn|which is not an unpopular opinion among foreign policy experts}} his statement was overly broad and failed to make it clear.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKQGvVsRpaE Hasan Piker Addresses Online Comments] The Young Turks</ref>

====Foreign policy takes====
Hasan has a history of defending authoritarian governments on the condition they are geopolitical enemies of the United States. Slightly before Russia invaded Ukraine, Hasan declared such a thing would never occur and called those who believed it would "Liberal Q-Anon."<ref>[https://x.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1758906606358864265 Happy anniversary to Hasan Piker yelling at his chat and stating that Russia would never invade Ukraine, and calling anyone who says that "Liberal QAnon".] @PostLeftWatch</ref> He would later describe the conflict as "mass shelling on both sides," as opposed to a unilateral invasion.<ref>[https://x.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1710868310416663020 Hasan Piker describes the War In Donbas as 1. Having started in 2004. 2. Calls the war "mass shelling on both sides" instead of Ukraine responding to Russia seizing territory. 3. Says it was "another instance of proxy war, 100%".] @PostLeftWatch</ref> He also got frustrated on stream by those who compared Putin to Hitler, while also calling the annexation of Crimea "understandable."<ref>[https://x.com/DylanBurns1776/status/1573327346807066627 context for question] @DylanBurns1776</ref> Hasan did, however, raise $200,000 for a Ukrainian relief fund during a stream of ''{{wpl|Elden Ring||.}}''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=March 10, 2022 |title=Twitch in wartime |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/10/twitch-streamers-russia-ukraine-hasan-cnn/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311022831/https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/10/twitch-streamers-russia-ukraine-hasan-cnn/ |archive-date=March 11, 2022 |access-date=March 11, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> ...''after'' the invasion already started.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legacy.upcomer.com/hasan-raised-100k-for-ukraine-in-partnership-with-care-in-under-half-an-hour/|title=Hasan raised $100K for Ukraine in under half an hour playing Elden Ring|last=Ousley|first=Parkes|date=February 28, 2022|publisher=''Upcomer''}}</ref>

Hasan has similarly shown distaste for those who criticize Chinese imperialism, on one occasion comparing Taiwan to the Confederacy,<ref>[https://x.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1755433293779206540 Hasan Piker explains Taiwan as if the Confederacy ruled America, the Union took it over, but Texas (Taiwan) still remained a Confederate state, and that the world still gives them weapons to use as a stronghold against the Union.] @PostLeftWatch</ref> a tactic he has also used while talking about [[Tibet]].<ref>[https://x.com/PostLeftWatch/status/1708640453665649035 Hasan Piker defends China's invasion and annexation of Tibet, and defends China's repression and destruction of Tibet's culture. Hasan compares pre-annexation Tibet to the South during the Civil War.] @PostLeftWatch</ref> In one 2023 stream, Hasan described himself as "Pro-China" and downplayed the status of human rights in Hong Kong under China.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2CekfOVDhE Hasan's Takes On China Might Be Getting Worse]</ref>

While watching a video by JT "Second Thought" Chapman, a campist YouTuber who defended Russia's invasion of Ukraine<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qIDOx-Pnzo SecondThought - Ukraine War (CPUSA International Conference 2023)]</ref> and would later go on to defend authoritarianism as a [[Fascism|necessary tool of the state]],<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhPOrkGbpxk Discussing Authoritarianism]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhiCeGKVr4w Authoritarianism is bad actually: a response to Second Thought]</ref> a Twitch chatter asked Hasan for "thoughts on [Chapman] being a [[tankie]]." In response, Hasan stated he hoped Chapman would "drive a tank" to the chatter's house and banned him for a week while telling him to think about "how stupid [he is] as a human being".<ref>https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessDeafYogurtDoubleRainbow-Qj8h48JuC8PpRHJT</ref> Hasan also appeared as a guest on ''The Deprogram'', a podcast co-hosted by Chapman alongside fellow campist YouTubers Hakim and Yugopnik.<ref>[https://youtu.be/NBrC62rPoIw Episode 74: Turkish Lore and The Poverty Cult (Ft. @HasanAbi)]</ref><ref>[https://youtu.be/zmf_hUIGAlw ''The Deprogram'' Episode 146 - Hasan Pog (Ft. ‪@HasanAbi‬)]</ref>

In 2024 Hasan expressed support for [[Hezbollah]], which he compared to [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>[https://www.mediaite.com/politics/left-wing-pundit-hasan-piker-says-i-dont-have-an-issue-with-hezbollah-praises-yemens-houthis-for-seizing-ships/ Left Wing Pundit Hasan Piker Says ‘I Don’t Have An Issue’ With Hezbollah, Praises Yemen’s Houthis For Seizing Ships]</ref>.

====Cracker-gate====
In late 2021, Hasan was banned from Twitch temporarily because of his use of the word "cracker," a negative term for white people, on stream.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/hasan-piker-says-twitch-banned-him-for-saying-cracker Leftist Streamer Hasan Piker Says Twitch Banned Him for Saying ‘Cracker’] The Daily Beast</ref> Hasan was not the only example of this at the time, as Twitch had banned [[Vaush]] from the platform for the same reason.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en/article/4awxjw/hasan-piker-allegedly-banned-from-twitch-for-saying-cracker Hasan Piker Banned From Twitch for Saying ‘Cracker’] Vice</ref> This caused controversy as some felt that Twitch was giving into white supremacist notions of white people being victims, which many felt was especially ironic given Twitch's bad moderation of bigotry against marginalized groups.<ref>[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/14614448231191776 “You dumb cracker b*tch”: The legitimizing of White supremacy during a Twitch ban of HasanAbi] Sage Journal</ref>

==Political activity==
===2020 US presidential election===
{{main|2020 U.S. presidential election}}
In October 2020 Hasan played the [[video game]] ''{{wpl|Among Us}}'' with US Representative [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]] live on Twitch for a "Get out the Vote" initiative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/among-us/aoc-twitch|title=AOC starts a Twitch account to play Among Us with Pokimane and HasanAbi|last=Bailey|first=Dustin|date=October 20, 2020|publisher=''PC Games''}}</ref> The viewership count ended up reaching almost 700,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/10/20/almost-700000-people-flock-to-twitch-to-watch-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-play-hit-video-game-among-us/?sh=69344e5f604d|title=Almost 700,000 People Flock To Twitch To Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Play Hit Video Game ‘Among Us’|last=Brown|first=Abram|date=October 20, 2020|publisher=''Forbes''}}</ref>

During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Hasan was the sixth most viewed source of the election, taking up 4.9% of total marketshare.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Gita |date=November 4, 2020 |title=Hasan Piker's Twitch Stream Is the Future of Election Night Coverage|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjppy7/hasan-pikers-twitch-stream-is-the-future-of-election-night-coverage |archive-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104202643/https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjppy7/hasan-pikers-twitch-stream-is-the-future-of-election-night-coverage |url-status=live |website=[[Vice News]] |access-date=November 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=November 2, 2020 |title=How people are obsessing over results (virtually) on election night |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/02/watching-election-night/ |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105033922/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/02/watching-election-night/ |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |access-date=November 5, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Cale |date=November 13, 2020 |title=Streamlabs report shows HasanAbi rivaled major news outlets for presidential election coverage |url=https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/streamlabs-report-shows-hasanabi-rivaled-major-news-outlets-for-presidential-election-coverage |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117183957/https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/streamlabs-report-shows-hasanabi-rivaled-major-news-outlets-for-presidential-election-coverage |url-status=live |website=Dot Esports  |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=May |first=Ethan |date=November 13, 2020 |title=Streamlabs and Stream Hatchet Live Stream Election Report |url=https://streamlabs.com/content-hub/post/streamlabs-and-stream-hatchet-live-stream-election-report |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113170148/https://streamlabs.com/content-hub/post/streamlabs-and-stream-hatchet-live-stream-election-report |url-status=live |website=Streamlabs |access-date=November 16, 2020}}</ref> He was also the most viewed Twitch streamer during 2020's election week, with nearly seven million hours of view time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gamerant.com/hasan-piker-twitch-stats/|title=Hasan Piker is Now One of Twitch's Top Streamers|last=Lister|first=Bishop|date=November 7, 2020|publisher=''Gamerant''}}</ref>

Hasan's coverage of the [[January 6th]] [[coup]] attempt reached 231,000 viewers.<ref>[https://www.pcgamer.com/the-storming-of-the-us-capitol-is-currently-twitchs-top-stream/ "The storming of the US Capitol is currently Twitch's top stream"] - ''PC Gamer''. Written by Steve Messner and Tyler Wilde (January 6, 2021).</ref>

===2024 DNC===
Hasan was one of the internet influencers given press credentials for the 2024 Democratic National Convention.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2024/08/21/nx-s1-5078580/for-the-first-time-political-influencers-have-press-credentials-at-the-dnc|title=For the first time, political influencers have press credentials at the DNC|last=Inskeep|first=Steven|date=August 21, 2024|publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> While there, he interviewed progressive [[Congress]]man {{wpl|Ro Khanna||.}}<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIh_NUsFS04 "INTERVIEWING PROGRESSIVE CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA"] - Hasanabi [[Youtube]] Channel (Aug 21, 2024).</ref> Hasan also met with uncommitted delegates at the DNC,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v04etqAMSZE "DEMOCRATS NEED TO LISTEN TO THEM"] - Hasanabi Youtube Channel (August 23, 2024)</ref> the same delegates the DNC was committed to ignoring.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2024/08/22/dnc-palestinian-american-speech-denied|title=Democrats refused to give Palestinian Americans DNC speaking slot|last=Rubin|first=April|date=August 22, 2024|publisher=''Axios''}}</ref> 

Hasan was ultimately kicked out of the DNC on the final day.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR93zSh7dCI "GETTING KICKED OUT OF THE DNC"] - Hasanabi Youtube Channel (August 23, 2024)</ref> Hasan alleges the reason he was kicked was because of his meeting with the uncommitted delegates and tweeting that the DNC messaging was comparable to [[Israeli]] ''[[Zionism#Weaponizing antisemitism|hasbara]]''.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsgAmdOHpaY "The REAL Reason I Got Kicked Out Of The DNC"] - Hasanabi Youtube Channel (August 23, 2024)</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piker, Hasan}}
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Left-wing activists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Political pundits]]
[[Category:Vatniks]]
[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Socialists]]
[[Category:Tankies]]

Categories: California, Left-wing activists, Living people, Political pundits, Vatniks, YouTube, Socialists, Tankies