FaZe Clan Caught In Pride Month Controversy, Generating Plenty Of Memes And Discourse

Esports organization FaZe Clan tweeted an image of its logo with rainbow colors in support of Pride Month on June 1st, leading FaZe Virus (a well-known member of the organization) to tweet that he does not support any “LGBTQ+” thing because he is Muslim.

FaZe Virus has since deleted his reply to FaZe Clan’s tweet, but screenshots of the Twitter exchange circulated widely online this week. A few speculated that FaZe Clan pressured Faze Virus to delete the tweet following public outcry over the weekend.

LOL TRUE. freedom of speech is such a big L https://t.co/HO003FKZ8h

— nʎu (@nyuvola) June 3, 2022

Fans of FaZe Clan popped off in the replies to the original tweet, with some accusing FaZe Virus of homophobia and calling on the FaZe Clan to cancel him.

@FaZeVirus this u? pic.twitter.com/AwHHCSGkjj

— colin (@sadgayenergy) June 2, 2022

Your religion is not an excuse to be a homophobic piece of shit,i know alot muslims who support LGBTQ+ people ! in my opinion faze clan shouldnt associate themselfs with someone like virus if thats shit he says and thinks https://t.co/Kv7hCqrEdm

— LostWorldOfJJ (@LostWorldOfJJ) June 3, 2022

Drop him @FaZeClan pic.twitter.com/wdA8DTTHeU

— Kitzi (@xKitzi) June 2, 2022

Others defended FaZe Virus by pointing out that he lives in Saudi Arabia where homosexuality is illegal or accusing the FaZe Clan of a double standard for honoring the LGBTQ+ community but not other groups.

shoutout to @FaZeVirus for being such a bloody giga chad pic.twitter.com/tFAIjc9yTr

— i need AW 2 (@Chippres) June 3, 2022

He said he doesn't support it, he didn't say he hates them, he lives in Saudi Arabia, he can land in jail for supporting them, these lgbtq mfs go too far. I miss the days when a rainbow was a rainbow… https://t.co/Kkxv1EjF4P

— sens (@sensbtw) June 5, 2022

Many made fun of FaZe Virus supporters, mocking them for caring so much about a Twitter post.

Block the topic or go outside for 1 month without twitter ffs… pic.twitter.com/6aBZLC1Thk

— Edgar142 (@EdgarTorres142) June 3, 2022

"Where is the vets month" "did you honor the veterans in the memorial day?" "not that i am homophobic but….." pic.twitter.com/qn8gRYxlK0

— liberasts123 🇱🇻🇪🇺🇺🇦 (@liberasts123) June 3, 2022

A number of posters also accused FaZe Clan of only supporting Pride Month for economic reasons, a common theme among corporate memes this time of year, making memes calling out what they saw as the greed of the organization.

They gotta do what they gotta do ☠️ https://t.co/COwVhP7BPB

— Day (@Akioszn) June 4, 2022

I want whatever this guy is smoking, shit must be primo https://t.co/oKuEfYg0QS

— Willow is working for Satan (@Willow0Wisp) June 4, 2022

FaZe Clan is a very well-known organization in esports circles and beyond, partnering with several celebrity streamers and winning many competitions. The controversial Pride Month tweet, however, earned significantly more engagement than FaZe Clan’s posts on the platform usually do, nearing 10,000 likes, over a thousand retweets and 2,000 replies.

FaZe Clan has yet to make any comment about the controversy or about FaZe Virus, and several days have already passed.