Top 10 most controversial streamers of 2025: Political streaming is surging dramatically with a 513% spike in activity on platforms like YouTube, Twitch and Kick in 2024. In fact, in Q1 2025 alone, political streams racked up 3.4 billion hours of watch time (a 56% increase year-on-year), with political content on Twitch nearly matching gaming streams in terms of volume.
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So which political streamers are the most controversial?
To find out, the experts compiled a seed list of the most politically and socially influential streamers and analysed activity across Reddit subreddits, including r/LivestreamFail and r/YouTubeDrama. They tracked sentiment, volume of mentions, and engagement rates to determine the most divisive voices in online politics today.
Top 10 most controversial streamers of 2025
| Rank | Influencer | Political Leaning | Total Reddit Mentions | Average Reddit Sentiment | Reddit Sentiment (Pos | Neg) | r/Livestream Fail Sentiment | r/YouTube Drama Sentiment | Final Controversy Score (/10) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Destiny | Liberal | 9,136 | -0.05 | 24.73% | 32.11% | -0.06 | -0.11 | 9.30 |
| 2 | HasanAbi | Left-wing | 20,573 | 0.01 | 26.18% | 24.37% | -0.10 | -0.15 | 8.90 |
| 3 | Cr1TiKaL | Apolitical | 5,394 | 0.05 | 29.68% | 19.67% | -0.19 | -0.15 | 8.00 |
| 4 | Ben Shapiro | Right-wing | 3,635 | -0.02 | 24.92% | 27.26% | -0.26 | 0.01 | 7.80 |
| 5= | Asmongold | Right-wing | 53,404 | 0.10 | 35.02% | 16.72% | 0.05 | -0.09 | 7.70 |
| 5= | TheQuartering | Right-wing | 1,088 | -0.12 | 25.37% | 43.29% | -0.36 | -0.16 | 7.70 |
| 5= | Vaush | Left-wing | 22,599 | -0.02 | 24.91% | 28.93% | 0.15 | -0.13 | 7.70 |
| 8 | Philip DeFranco | Center-left | 1,513 | -0.01 | 25.64% | 26.04% | -0.28 | 0.00 | 6.70 |
| 9 | Atrioc | Progressive | 9,198 | 0.09 | 31.93% | 15.13% | 0.18 | 0.23 | 6.60 |
| 10 | Tectone | Right-leaning | 1,344 | 0.08 | 33.18% | 19.12% | -0.22 | -0.20 | 5.70 |
With a final controversy score of 9.30/10, Destiny tops the list as the most polarising political streamer online. Banned permanently from Twitch, the liberal commentator was most recently temporarily suspended by Kick last July for allegedly making hateful remarks about a shooting at Donald Trump’s rally. Destiny has racked up 9,136 mentions in his subreddit overall, where average sentiment toward him skews slightly negative (-0.05), and nearly 33% of mentions are outright negative – the second highest among all influencers analysed. He’s heavily featured on r/LivestreamFail and r/YouTubeDrama (8,996 mentions), the latter showing a notably negative sentiment (–0.11).
Turkish-American streamer HasanAbi follows closely in second with a controversy score of 8.90/10. Banned six times on Twitch, his latest suspension in May came after commenting on the motives behind a shooting involving Israeli embassy staff. However, the one-day ban sparked outrage among viewers and streamers, who argued it downplayed the gravity of the topic. While also a left-leaning commentator, HasanAbi has a long-running feud with Destiny – one of Twitch’s most notorious political beefs. HasanAbi has over 20,000 mentions in his subreddit, with a further 15,107 on r/YouTubeDrama, where sentiment is highly negative (-0.15).
Cr1TiKaL ranks third with a final controversy score of 8/10. In January, he merged his Moist Esports team with Shopify Rebellion, becoming co-owner alongside fellow creator Ludwig Ahgren. Cr1TiKaL has 5,394 mentions in his subreddit, and while overall sentiment is mildly positive (+0.05), his name appears frequently on subreddits like r/YouTubeDrama, where sentiment drops notably (-0.15). Nearly 20% of his Reddit mentions are negative. Last July, a heated Twitch debate with Sneako on transgender rights and age-of-consent laws led to his departure from The Official Podcast and Red Thread.
Ben Shapiro ranks as the fourth most controversial influencer, with a final score of 7.80/10. The outspoken conservative commentator recently entered the ‘woke’ debate’ surrounding the newly released Superman movie after HasanAbi claimed the film mirrors the Israel-Gaza conflict, suggesting the fictional country Boravia represents Israel. Shapiro rejected the comparison, arguing the story bears no resemblance to real events and could only be seen that way by those with a “left-wing brain”. Shapiro received an average Reddit sentiment of -0.02. He fared slightly better on r/YouTubeDrama (+0.01), while his r/LivestreamFail mentions were notably harsher (-0.26).
Asmongold, TheQuartering, and Vaush rank joint fifth in controversy rankings
Sharing the fifth spot, Asmongold, TheQuartering, and Vaush each scored a notable 7.70/10. TheQuartering holds the worst average Reddit sentiment (-0.12) among the three, with over two in five (43.29%) of Reddit mentions being negative. In contrast, Asmongold and Vaush lead in visibility, receiving the highest and second highest number of mentions in their own subreddits, at 53,404 and 22,599, respectively. Recently crowned the world’s most watched streamer for Q2 2025, Asmongold has made headlines beyond gaming. In a June livestream, he called himself the “most pro-trans and pro-LGBT” creator on the platform while criticising fellow streamers for staying silent.
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