One day after a clip of his recent Fortnite session started going viral due to his apparent use of the n-word, Ninja has addressed the incident by apologizing "for offending anyone."
In a series of tweets early Thursday, Ninja first characterized the incident as "a misunderstanding" before acknowledging that it's his responsibility to ensure his viewers never feel "disrespected" by his actions. "It is my job, and hopefully I'm usually good at it, to make everyone feel welcome, valued, and safe to be themselves," he said. "So I apologize to anyone who might feel hurt because I NEVER want that. It's my stream, and it's on me to make that right."
Ninja claimed that he "wasn't even trying to say the word," blaming it on "fumbled lyrics" and getting "tongue tied in the worst possible way." See his statement in full below.
In the clip in question, Ninja is playing a round of Fortnite when he launches into an attempted recital of Logic's Bobby Tarantino II cut "44 More." The actual lyrics, of course, do not contain any instances of the n-word. Ninja botched the lyrics after the "in the cut smokin' on indica line," somehow resulting in the bit of audio for which he's now apologizing.
Earlier this month, Ninja broke a Twitch record thanks to a Fortnite pop-in from Drake.