An internal meeting between H&M staff was inexplicably streamed on Twitch, on the channel of NBA player Ben Simmons no less, before the company discovered it and swiftly canceled the meeting.
Simmons, Philidelphia 76ers’ Australian point guard, is also a popular Twitch streamer. He streams both casually and for business opportunities, as well as taking part in gaming tournaments.
It’s unclear why he or a member of his team were present in the H&M management meeting on April 7, but somehow, it was being livestreamed on his channel with over 50,000 followers. Clearly, this was not intended to be a public meeting, as the host quickly shut things down when they were made aware.
Presumably, it was a complete accident, likely when attempting to record the meeting, the ‘go live’ option was selected. In any case, it made for a bizarre situation for all involved.
H&M’s regional logistics manager, Pascal Fassler, broke the news to the meeting’s members, and all those watching on Twitch.
“Unfortunately, I just received from customer service information, that some of us – we don’t know yet who – is livestreaming this video, and unfortunately, we have to stop the meeting immediately.
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“I’m very sorry for this. We wanted to present you an insight, but I think we need to have control [over] who we are talking to.” The Twitch stream was promptly ended, and the VOD and all clips have now been removed.
Ben Simmons has not yet commented on the situation, but it’s possible it wasn’t him directly, and rather a member of his team trying to record the meeting for him.
Viewers who caught the stream before it was shut down worried that sensitive information could have been included, such as H&M planning and strategies for future projects.
Thankfully, much of the remnants of the meeting appear to have been successfully wiped from the internet, with no trace left on Simmons’ channel.
