Pokimane revealed details about the YouTube deal she passed on to stay with Twitch and why she feels like she may have been “kind of an idiot” to turn the offer down.
Pokimane—real name Imane Anys—officially launched her Twitch channel in 2014. In the decade since, she has become the 13th most-followed channel on Twitch and the most-followed female-led channel on the platform with 9.3 million followers. Her success led to an exclusivity contract with Twitch, which she called her streaming home until 2024. However, she could have called YouTube her streaming home had she not passed for reasons even she admits were “stupid.”
During a September episode of her Sweet n Sour Podcast with LilyPichu, Pokimane shared some “contract tea” about YouTube’s efforts to win her over when she was first offered an exclusivity contract with Twitch. “YouTube gave me an offer first, and it was a big offer,” Pokimane said. “And I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever gonna see money like this in my life,’ and even at this point I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever gonna see money like that ever again.’ And my agent then goes to Twitch and they’re like, ‘Hey, would you like to counter this offer?’ and Twitch comes back with a counter that’s like… half of what YouTube was offering me.” Wanting to stay on Twitch but feeling she couldn’t say no to YouTube’s “life-changing money,” Pokimane concocted a plan to receive a better offer from Twitch.
Pokimane explained how she got her manager to give her the contact information of a Twitch executive and called the unnamed individual to plead her case. Pokimane told the executive that she “loved Twitch more” and wanted to stay on the platform but couldn’t turn down YouTube’s offer if Twitch only offered half the same amount. After “some back and forth,” Twitch matched YouTube’s offer, prompting Pokimane to turn down the latter’s deal.
Undeterred, YouTube offered Pokimane even more money, but she couldn’t accept the offer for an admittedly “stupid” reason. “I’m kind of an idiot, maybe, because I was like, ‘No, no, no. I can’t. I gave them my word.’” When YouTube again offered her more money, asking her to give them a number, Pokimane still felt she couldn’t accept. “I had like, a fixation on honesty, a bad one. […] I passed up so much money because I gave someone my word.”
Despite initial loyalty to Twitch, Pokimane announced she was no longer streaming exclusively on Twitch on January 30. During an episode of her podcast, Pokimane outlined the many reasons she left Twitch, including “the rise of so much manosphere, red pill [bs]” on the platform.” The recent controversy with Dr Disrespect is a good example. Now Pokimane is streaming on several platforms, including YouTube, and has no intention of signing a streaming exclusivity deal with any other company for now.
If there’s a cynical lesson to be learned from this story, Pokimane bluntly laid it out. “Don’t be honest. Do you what’s best for you,” she said.