Trihex responds to backlash after his Twitch emote appears in hate raids

Mychal ‘Trihex’ Jefferson, the streamer behind the TriHard Twitch emote, has gone to bat for his emoji following criticism during the site’s hate raid problems.

So-called “hate raids” against streamers of color have unfortunately been an issue on Twitch for a while now.

However, they started getting way out of hand in August 2021 – with Twitch confirming that changes will be made to stamp them out in the future. 

After another streamer took aim at Trihex, because the TriHard emote is often used by the people behind the racist bots, Jefferson pointed out he’d been discussing that very thing for years.

Trihex responds

“I have covered this topic about the politicization of TriHard and whether Black People, Women, or Minorities can be depicted & represented without abuse endlessly,” Trihex tweeted.

“I’ve advocated that community leaders (us, broadcasters) remain accountable for their chats and not do anything that resembles ‘Hate Raids’ since before the term was coined.”

Twitch TriHard emote

He also holds that there’s nothing inherently wrong with TriHard, and says he won’t let people who use it for “low-effort bait” win.

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“F**k racists. I absolutely do not condone any abuse of a depiction of myself that, in itself, has zero racist qualities (TriHard),” he continued. “My happy smile will not be hijacked as hate fuel to stimulate low-effort bait reactions by shallow, pathetic ppl.”

After initially hitting back at streamer TheGawd for calling him out, Trihex deleted his first few tweets and the two came to an amicable ending. They were on the same side, but it just goes to show how the perception that Twitch’s response is lacking is frustrating people even more.

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Twitch has revealed some of what they’re doing to combat these hate raids, adding they can’t share all the details as those conducting the raids will adapt to the changes.

Whatever they’re planning though, plenty of streamers are hoping something changes soon.