The Streamer Awards is what happens when you put a bunch of semi-talented influencers together in a room, give them mics, and force them to wear their best prom outfits. In other words, it’s probably the most painful thing you’ll ever watch.
I had the displeasure of attending the Streamer Awards a few years ago, and it felt a bit dystopian. While there were some good moments – like Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma calling out Nintendo for sucking the joy out of Smash esports – it largely felt like a blend of “popular girl humor” meets “celebrity humor” in what had to be the most self-important yet awkward event ever created.
The concept of influencers gathering in a room to accept rewards is already a bit questionable to anyone above 25 years old, but it was honestly the cringe humor that made it painful to witness. The mixture of half-baked roasts and unfunny quips that only other streamers caught the reference for was proof to me why the Streamer Awards had to be put on by a group of streamers to even exist.
Nobody else would have let this happen. And 2025 was one of the worst Streamer Awards yet when it comes to full-body chills and face-contorting cringing.
Host FanFan proved why we need professional hosts for events
If you know me, I’ll always fight for underpaid and unrepresented professionals over celebrities. It’s one of the reasons I hate The Super Mario Bros. movies – everyone is voiced by random celebrities with instantly recognizable voices rather than professional, talented voice actors who would embody the characters rather than make them an extension of themselves. It’s clearly a cash grab for Illumination and Nintendo rather than a true expression of Mario’s world.
The Streamer Awards put that on display for me once more. I’m not disputing that FanFan is a great streamer. I can’t dispute that because I haven’t watched any of her streams. I’m sure she is fine. Who knows? But I can say with certainty that she is not an award show host. This kind of event proves that quite clearly: it’s not as easy to take on these roles as people think, hence why professionals exist.
Of course, FanFan was only doing what QTCinderella and other streamers probably planned for her to do. Based on previous years, the host is supposed to crack jokes at streamers’ expense – but that is only entertaining if the person is good at roasting. And let’s be real: the room was full of Kai Cenat fans, making it even more of an uphill battle for FanFan when she went to roast him.
FanFan went around the room awkwardly making flat jokes to the streamers that got no reaction from the equally awkward and dull audience. People seem especially offended that she compared Kai Cenat to P. Diddy, although that’s been a long-running internet joke due to them both always having their mouth partially open. It’s not like she made this up. Still, it was poorly timed and poorly delivered, as Kai Cenat was there to celebrate his popularity with teenage boys on Twitch, not to be compared to a sociopathic rapist.
Another streamer in the audience grabbed the mic from her and said: “If you are gonna be on the mic making jokes, at least make it be funny.”
“I thought it was funny,” she responded.
She then asked him to make a joke instead, which he declined. The entire back-and-forth was just completely awkward and felt more like listening to two middle school bullies on the playground rather than award show attendees. Even worse, the audience wasn’t even reacting as FanFan continued to walk around the crowd making more jokes.
She walked over to Ray, some guy that Kai Cenat made famous – and claimed went through his scam of a streamer university – and told him he could barely speak English. She then some streamer that didn’t attend would have thought Ray and herself were related. Even Ray was confused what the joke was referencing, forcing her to say that it was because they were both Asian.
I’m no prude. I don’t mind dark humor. I love it. However, the delivery was painful. Nobody could even understand what she was trying to get at and she clearly felt uncomfortable due to the previous backlash and quiet audience.
I’ll honestly give it to her that she continued to make more bad jokes with other audience members despite the clear discomfort of the audience and herself.
Still, it makes me frustrated that the Streamer Awards didn’t hire a real host or real comedian to crack jokes about the audience members. It highlights how these streamers are just that – STREAMERS. They are not professional comedians or professional hosts or anything else. These are just streamers.
QTCinderella herself wasn’t much better, using the stage to call out random streamers in the crowd for being homophobic and stealing from Walmart. These people deserve to get called out, sure, but it just felt like a painful attempt to embarrass these streamers while making uncreative remarks on stage.
Streamers are not Hollywood-level celebrities, so let’s bring it back
There’s nothing wrong with being a streamer. But maybe we shouldn’t keep pretending that streamers are celebrities or that they can just pick up any acting or host-related job there is. That’s where things start to get messy and embarassing, even painful.
Having an award show dedicated to the streamers who make fans smile, who have dedicated fanbases, and who are grinding games makes sense to me. But do we need to force them to dress up, become hosts, and act like they are walking a red carpet? Can’t we just accept the Streamer Awards for what they are? A show for streamers and their fans?
Just like esports should stop trying to force itself onto ESPN in hopes of a random football-loving meathead suddenly loving League of Legends, we should stop pretending anyone other than the streamers’ fans are watching these award shows. Just be casual. Just be yourself. Just be funny. There’s no need to take these streamers out of their element and embarrass them in front of the entire internet. It feels like a popularity contest where everyone is trying to be the most obnoxious and self-important person in the room, which clearly rubs people the wrong way.
It’s hard to even remember how streaming used to be when Twitch first entered the scene. Nerds just playing games, building communities with other shut-ins… I’m not saying things can’t grow and change, but I never thought we’d get to a point where streamers are handing each other awards while wearing prom dresses.
You’re streamers, not A-list celebrities. Just have fun with it.
Last Updated On: Dec 8, 2025 5:58 pm CET