Psyonix
- Twitch streamer MsDirtyBird has apologized for lying about having brain and lung cancer.
- The small content creator was accused in a blog of being a "pathological liar."
- She told Insider that she plans to take a break from streaming.
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A Twitch streamer with a small following has apologized, saying she falsely told viewers in January that she had brain and lung cancer.
The streamer, whose account is called MsDirtyBird, has 1,800 Twitch followers and mainly played "Rocket League," a video game where cars play soccer, and previously streamed for 120 straight days. She received donations from viewers and received a portion of the money spent on subscriptions on her channel.
She broke that routine Monday after saying that she was not actually diagnosed with cancer.
Insider was unable to obtain footage of the January stream, but the streamer confirmed that she claimed to be diagnosed with metastatic cancer on Twitch and in comments on the messaging platform Discord.
The streamer, who declined to disclose her real name to Insider, was removed from the gaming organization N7 esports and received criticism on Twitter and Reddit after a member of the "Rocket League" community accused her of lying about her condition.
She told Insider that she "will regret it for the rest of my life."
"I am incredibly sorry for all the lies," MsDirtyBird said in a video posted to Twitter on Sunday.
Developed by Psyonix, "Rocket League" is available on nearly every console and averages around 50,000 players a day for the PC gaming platform Steam, according to SteamCharts. The community has a vibrant creator scene, with an average of 1,100 streamers playing the game on Twitch concurrently, according to Twitch Tracker.
The controversy began on August 28, when MsDirtyBird tweeted that fellow Rocket League streamer SwornRL had been behind a series of accounts on Twitch harassing her. The next day, SwornRL released a post on Twitlonger denying the accusations and accused MsDirtyBird of being a "pathological liar."
The Twitlonger includes a two-month-old clip from MsDirtyBird's sister Flamongo0420, saying "she hasn't said anything to any of us." There's also a video from an anonymous streamer where MsDirtyBird says she "lied about having cancer" (the account confirmed the legitimacy of the video to Insider by sharing the original file).
As to why MsDirtyBird made these statements in January she told Insider that she "started off lying as a young kid" and "lies became second nature to" her, describing herself as "manipulative."
The Twitlonger spread throughout the Rocket League community prompting those that had interacted with MsDirtyBird in the past to speak up.
TriHouse, a streamer with 65,000 followers on Twitch, replied to the thread that in "March" he was "made aware she was dishonest about her life, including cancer" and banned her from typing in chat on his channel.
On Sunday, MsDirtyBird posted an apology video that she then deleted, telling Insider "it wasn't sincere" and she "regrets making that video and regrets the lies that I told."
In her second apology video, MsDirtyBird said she plans on "taking a step back" from streaming. She told Insider that she "will be donating to charity all the money."
Read more stories from Insider's Digital Culture desk.