Hasan Piker is among the most popular personalities on the gaming-video streaming platform Twitch.
Piker—whose significant career break came conveniently via his uncle, Cenk Uygur, founder of the left-wing commentary show The Young Turks—brands himself as a “political commentator.” Over 2.5 million viewers regularly tune in, though it’s unlikely they’re seeking nuanced political insight. After all, Piker’s brand of “commentary” has included dismissing Hamas’ documented atrocities from October 7, such as the sexual assault of Israeli women, praising Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “a pretty brilliant person,” and even laughing during Hamas’ gruesome display when releasing the bodies of the Bibas family.
Yet none of these disturbing actions have deterred mainstream media outlets like The New York Times from publishing an inexplicably flattering profile of Piker. Remarkably, the article spends more words lauding his gender-bending fashion sense, fitness regimen, and “handsome” appearance than critically examining his troubling ideological views.
Titled “A Progressive Mind in a Body Made for the ‘Manosphere’,” the article enthusiastically proclaims in its subheading: “Hasan Piker pumps iron, likes weapons, and wears pearls. His brand of masculinity has won him many fans online—and has been a useful vehicle for his politics.”
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Indeed, the NYTimes appears genuinely captivated, initially depicting Piker as a provocative renegade who appeals to a legion of young male followers entrenched in the so-called “manosphere”—a digital subculture known for hyper-masculine content.
Hasan Piker thinks being a man is simple.
Like many successful internet personalities targeting a generation of young men, Mr. Piker, a 33-year-old Twitch and YouTube streamer, embraces a typical ‘bro’ persona: he likes weapons, inhales supplements, uses nicotine pouches, and endlessly debates the legacy of LeBron James. Yet unlike many contemporaries, Piker—an avowed socialist—is equally comfortable donning French maid drag as playing basketball.”
The first hints of Piker’s troubling views surface subtly, with the article merely stating he “criticizes…the Israeli government,” juxtaposed oddly alongside his support for organized labor, universal healthcare, and LGBTQ rights.
It’s only midway through—after considerable focus on Piker’s fitness routines and intermittent fasting diet consisting of “precisely chicken breast with low-carb pita, mezze, and sauces”—that the NYTimes bothers to hint at what this “criticism” entails:
A vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Mr. Piker has been labeled anti-American across the political spectrum for saying the U.S. ‘deserved’ the September 11 attacks. His recent accusations that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza and his diatribes against the Zionist movement have led supporters of Israel, including liberals like Representative Ritchie Torres of New York, to call Mr. Piker antisemitic.”
Predictably, the NYTimes immediately offers Piker a convenient rebuttal: “I find antisemitism to be completely unacceptable,” along with his disingenuous claim that “I find the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism to be very dangerous.”
Yet the NYTimes is evidently aware of Piker’s antisemitism—initially publishing a photo of his “bulking” chicken meal consumed in his studio, inadvertently showing a viewer comment on Piker’s Twitch stream stating in block capitals: “I’D FUCK THIS IDF BITCH TO DEATH.”
In writer Jack Crosbie’s rush to flatter Piker, it seems he didn’t bother examining the photos closely. And in typical New York Times fashion, the image was quietly edited later to crop out the damning viewer comments, leaving only the innocuous chicken meal behind.
And yet, the NYTimes’s profile of Piker is merely the latest example from an outlet seemingly intent on rebranding Palestinian extremists as progressive. Just weeks ago, the paper dedicated its opinion page to an impassioned defense of the Oscar-winning joint Israeli-Palestinian documentary No Other Land, which HonestReporting had criticized for misrepresenting facts on the ground.
Oscar-winning Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra claim to show “life under occupation” in Masafer Yatta, yet their doc distorts the area’s true history. When you start with a pre-written script, propaganda wins out over facts. pic.twitter.com/7z2vLjp2Ev
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 7, 2025
While the essay argued for a so-called joint “co-resistance” between Israelis and Palestinians, we revealed how one of the writers, Rania Batrice, had a starkly different interpretation of “resistance” on October 7. That day, as Hamas terrorists, aided by Gazan civilians, invaded Israel, massacred over 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, Batrice was amplifying Hamas propaganda. She shared footage of terrorists paragliding into Israel and opening fire, accompanied by a text overlay likening them to Jews smuggling weapons into Nazi ghettos during the Holocaust.
Hasan Piker isn’t merely another controversial figure pushing boundaries—he’s emblematic of a deeply troubling trend: the glamorization of extremism through superficial charm and savvy branding. And, disturbingly, The New York Times is leading the way.
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