This Tuesday, March 12, France TV unveiled on social networks the trailer for “Aux Jeux Streamers”, a show in which influencers must compete, 90 days before the Paris Olympic Games, in sporting events.
Twenty-four hours later, no trace of this extremely criticized advertising campaign can be found.
Backpedaling in the face of controversy or miscommunication?
We take stock.
“At the Streamers Games”, what is it?
In “At the Streamers Games”, 32 web and television personalities, divided into eight teams, will compete in classic Olympic Games events such as fencing or table tennis.
These Internet Olympics are supposed to take place on April 27, at La Défense Arena, in front of an audience of 20,000 people.
Organized in collaboration with Webedia, it was announced that the competition would be broadcast on France TV but also on the Twitch channel of streamer Zerator, behind the Zevent charity event.
He will comment on the events live and carry out interviews with the participants.
This Tuesday, during the broadcast of the trailer for the event, the identities of the eight team leaders were revealed: Domingo, Broky Brawks, Charles Poujade, Tibo In Shape, Ophenya, Cyril MP4, Théobadak.
How did the controversy arise?
It was the announcement of these headliners that plunged the show into turmoil.
The presence of Ophenya and Tibo In Shape was massively denounced on the social network X. “A faf and a “streamer” who promoted a meeting site between adults and children.
Sacred casting”;
" Disappointing " ;
or even “Ohpenya and Tibo In Shape?”
Really ?
», We can read on the platform.
A faf and a "streamer" who promoted a dating site between adults and children.
Great casting.
#AuxJeuxStreamers https://t.co/QooayiFgFv
— CarryNeo (@titi_76_) March 12, 2024
Ophenya, followed by nearly 5 million people on TikTok, has been under fire for several months for promoting Crush, a dating application for 10-21 year olds.
The influencer subsequently published a press release in which she claimed not to have received any money for this advertising.
Tibo InShape, the second most followed YouTuber in France, is regularly singled out for his comments on women, weight and even mental health.
Recently, Internet users criticized him for giving voice to Thérèse Hargot on his YouTube channel, a sexologist accused of advocating rape culture.
Part of the public also criticizes Tibo In Shape for racist comments that he published before he became famous, on Facebook under the real name Thibault Delapart.
“Sometimes, when I'm angry, I have fun throwing pork chops at the Muslims, it's cool, they're burning” or “A black man re-elected, homosexual marriage adopted.
It will not be an easy day,” are among the publications in question.
For a long time, the content creator denied being the author.
Is the event in danger?
A few hours after the publication of the trailer for the show and faced with the barrage of bad comments, streamer Baghera Jones explained herself on X. “I'll be honest, it's my fault but I don't was aware of my team for the Olympics broadcast and not the captains, and that will teach me to sometimes let life go quickly, I am trying to see what I can do currently because I do not validate in any way the actions and/or remarks of some participants in this event, she said.
I am currently waiting for answers and actions to know the outcome of my participation or not in this day,” continued the young woman.
The post has since been deleted.
Baghera Jones spoke about the casting of “Aux Jeux Streamers”.
DR
On Tuesday evening, on the set of the Twitch show Pop Corn, Zenator also justified himself.
“It’s a problem, we’re not going to minimize it.
(…) I perhaps naively trusted the organization to check the background of the guests (…) We had the first images of the casting a few weeks ago and they sent me a list asking me if certain people could pose problems for communities and networks.
But there are people who were not in the final trailer,” detailed the videographer.
All content relating to “Aux Jeux Streamers” has been deleted from France TV’s social networks.
For the moment, the channel has not commented on the future of the program and did not respond to requests from Le Parisien this Wednesday.
Furthermore, on the La Défense Arena website, where the competition is to take place, the page dedicated to ticketing for the event now corresponds to a 404 error.