A major shakeup has hit the competitiveSmash Bros.community, as numerous pro players and content creators have been called out for previous misdeeds. Amidst the storm, ZeRo was one of manySmash Bros.playersaccused of sexual misconduct with minors, and after the accusations began mounting, he actually admitted to the claims.
For those that don’t keep up with competitiveSmash Bros., ZeRo is considered the bestSuper Smash Bros. Brawlplayer of all time, and had a somewhat heartwarming tale of his rise to fame. Now that it is clear that he was a part of this abhorrent behavior, though, many of his prior fans have denounced him.
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Though he hasn’t made any attempt to stream or make new content since his confession, Twitch officially banned ZeRo on July 22nd, 18 days after his initial Twitlonger detailing the nature of his offenses. Though there was never really any doubt, this is thenail in the coffin for ZeRo’s career online.
There are few that would defend ZeRo’s behavior, as he admitted to sending explicit sexual messages to minors as young as 14 at the time while he himself was 19, but of all those in the community that were accused, he seemed to handle things the best. ZeRo was honest about the accusations, coming clean quickly and being very apologetic. He banned himself fromall furtherSmash Bros.eventsand stopped streaming or making content on YouTube. His final message to his previous fans was that he was entering therapy to try and better himself.
Again, none of this excuses his actions, but at least he tried to take the fall with some amount of grace. Many are confused as to whyTwitch would take 18 days to ban someonewho publicly confessed to these allegations, so here is what Twitch had to say about it. The streaming giant claimed that it “prioritized the most severe cases and will begin issuing permanent suspensions in line with our findings immediately.” The most plausible reason for its lack of action until now is that it prioritized other cases over this since ZeRo wasn’t streaming on the platform anymore anyway.
While this whole debacle has certainly been devastating to thecurrent meta of theSmashcommunity, it is good to see that it may be rebuilt in a manner that is safer and more wholesome. New talent now has a chance to shine through and a better community will no doubt be built as a result of this.
