#DreamOUT

Overview

#DreamOUT refers to a social media controversy surrounding Minecraft YouTuber Dream that started with a Twitter interaction between Dream and another person, who subsequently set their account to private over fears of being harassed and doxxed by Dream's fanbase, with Dream later gloating over the person privating their account. In the following days, #DreamOUT hashtag went viral on Twitter as users discussed Dream's controversial behavior, with some demanding the creator to be canceled and deplatformed.

Background

On April 10th, 2022, streamer and YouTuber HasanAbi tweeted^[1] that his video titled "Dear Conservatives: GAY PEOPLE EXIST" was removed by YouTube, with Dream replying^[2] with a joke tweet which received 1,500 retweets and 85,900 likes (shown below, left). In the same thread, Dream's friend and fellow Dream SMP member Antfrost doubled on the joke,^[3] writing, "gay people don't exist I heard," with Dream replying in a now-deleted tweet, "they exist in your disgusting fantasies you FREAK" (shown below, right).

Several users on Twitter raised questions with the exchange, accusing Dream of homophobia, with Dream defending himself in replies. On April 11th, Dream tweeted,^[4] "I’m not gay I think women are very attractive, some men are ok too I guess" on his main Twitter account, with the tweet gaining over 12,200 retweets and 300,000 likes in three days (shown below). The tweet also served as a response to previous accusations of queebaiting put against Dream on social media.

Within one hour, Twitter^[5] user @mikupilled quote tweeted Dream's tweet, writing, "but if i say hes only saying this bc hes under fire for making homophobic jokes?." with Dream then replying^[6] to her that only on Twitter people could confuse mocking homophobia with homophobia (both tweets since deleted; exchange shown below, center and right). @mikupilled^[7] then set their account to private over fears of Dream's fanbase doxxing and harassing her, adding that she was in a dangerous life position making her especially vulnerable (tweet shown below, right).

Dream later posted a tweet^[10] on his private @dreamsecretclub account in which he gloated about people setting their account to privat after replying to them "to call them out on bs" (shown below, left).

In the following hours, multiple users on Twitter raised an issue with Dream's online behavior. For example, Twitter^[8] user @platdva made a tweet sharing screenshots of Dream's tweet and @mikupilled setting her account to priave, with the tweet gaining over 1,200 retweets and 7,500 likes in three days (shown below, center). Twitter^[9] user @falltubbo made a similar tweet that gained over 12,300 retweets and 112,000 likes in the same period (shown below, right).

Developments

Starting on April 11th, multiple users on Twitter^[10][11][12] made tweets in which they demanded Dream to take responsibility for his fanbase and brought up examples of the YouTuber's controversial behavior in the past, with some demanding that Dream gets canceled and deplatformed (examples shown below).

On April 12th, Dream changed the color scheme of the profile picture and the header of his second account @dreamwastaken,^[13][14] changing his handle to "nightmare" (screenshot shown below, left).

On April 12th, 2022, streamer Mizkif tweeted,^[15] "i hate that dream guy," with the tweet gaining over 1,200 retweets and 35,800 likes.

Dream's Response

On April 13th, 2022, Dream addressed the controversy on his Twitch account (YouTube^[16] upload shown below).

I wish that people weren't hateful towards me, I wish people weren't hateful towards people who don't like me, I wish that people weren't hateful in general.

#DreamOUT

The Twitter discussion eventually led to the creation of #dreamOUT hashtag which was used to collect examples of Dream's controversial behaviour and to demand Dream to be canceled and deplatformed. On April 13th, 2022, Twitter^[17] user @Cherry_9O made the first viral tweet with the hashtag, a Cosmo Yelling meme that gained over 970 retweets and 8,800 likes, launching the trend (shown below, left). In the following hours, multiple users made tweets with the hashtag (examples shown below, center and right).

On April 13th, 2022, Twitter^[18][19] user @ballslover32, the person whose interaction with Dream spawned a meme in March 2022, successfully ratio'd Dream's tweet, with the YouTuber then deleting his post (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References