Smash Bros. Ultimate, Smash Bros. Melee, and Dragon Ball FighterZ pro player Leffen has apologized for a tweet in which he compared minimum wage workers to Twitch streamers. Leffen, real name William Hjelte, claimed that streaming was more difficult than carrying out a minimum wage job in a now-deleted exchange on Twitter.
Leffen made the controversial statement after telling a Twitter user that he would “rather flip burgers at McDonald’s if it paid the same amount” than play Smash Ultimate professionally. When another user noted how this assertion was not “a reality,” Leffen replied: “Trust me, you know absolutely nothing about streaming [Smash Ultimate] if you think minimum wage jobs are harder.”
Why was Leffen trending?
Leffen began trending on Twitter due to his claim, with many pointing out the difference between the struggles faced by minimum wage workers as opposed to those who make a full-time living from streaming. Leffen later deleted the tweet, saying it had been taken “out of context” but that it was still “a really sh*tty tweet.”
“My point was to stream [Smash Ultimate] the way I did (12-16 hour days with a sleep schedule to favor US audience with no days off for a month straight, online only) was awful,” Leffen tweeted.
He reiterated that he had said the minimum wage job would be preferable if it paid the same amount, and added that he acknowledged that pay and working conditions in the US are “straight up inhuman at times.”
Woke up to getting ratiod hard, lmao yeah its out of context but itd obviously a really shitty tweet. My point was that to stream Ultimate the way I did (12-16 hour days with a sleep schedule to favor US audience with no days off for a month straight, online only) was awful- https://t.co/rQwOQweSKX
— TSM Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) September 28, 2020
And that to me, the work of doing that for a game you didn't enjoy (hated online) in front of thousands of people was far worse than working a minimum wage job 40 hours a week where I could turn my brain off _IF I WOULDVE GOTTEN PAID THE SAME AMOUNT_.
I definitely would not-
— TSM Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) September 28, 2020
choose to work a minimum wage job for that wage, especially in america where both the working conditions and pay are straight up inhuman at times.
Overall I'm EXTREMELY lucky to be able to stream and create content as a job, and I really enjoy being able to do it.
— TSM Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) September 28, 2020
Leffen apologized for the offending tweet, noting that he is “EXTREMELY lucky” to be in the position that he’s in, although it also has its drawbacks such as being “constantly judged” by viewers.
“Overall I made a real f**king sh*tty tweet, and I’m sorry,” he concluded. “I’m very lucky to have any and all support to be able to be a content creator full time and I seriously think minimum wage jobs are awful and there NEEDS to be change.”
