Does Pokimane Have A Boyfriend?
For Twitch and YouTube star Imane "Pokimane" Anys, fame comes with some obvious caveats. The 24-year-old gamer has become famous for her blunt honesty, but as a woman in a male-dominated industry, fans constantly crave more insight into her private life, including her relationship status. Does Pokimane have a boyfriend? Does Pokimane have a girlfriend? Well, despite any rumors that have swirled over the years, Pokimane appears to be single at the moment — but we'll never truly know for sure.
"It's definitely been a lot of trial and error when it comes to figuring out exactly how much I want to put out to the public," Pokimane told Forbes in March 2020 about striking that balance between her public persona and her private life. "I try to remember that it's ultimately my prerogative how much I want to share in regards to my private life."
"My job is to stream and play games to entertain my audience, but with that being said, I want to have a genuine connection with my community as well, and that's mostly achieved through opening up about what's going on in my life," Pokimane added. "However, there's always a risk when sharing personal information, so I try to be mindful of that." Of course, the incessant inquiries have incited both jokes and complaints from the star herself, but aside from Pokimane's not-so-secret crush on actor Michael B. Jordan, it looks like she won't be sharing said details with her fans anytime soon.
Pokimane explained why she won't share her relationship status
After an onslaught of rumors and accusations, gamer Pokimane took to YouTube to address the matters of her private life once and for all. "I don't know if I would like, really want to put my relationship out there once I get into one," Pokimane explained in June 2019. "For example, I'm sure you've seen a lot of couples out there who make their relationship public... When they break up, they have to make that public, too. I don't know if I wanna go through that, know what I'm saying?"
Pokimane also addressed the many female streamers who've accused her of keeping her love life under wraps in hopes of gaining more "thirsty" fans. "A big reason why it bothers me to read stuff like this... is because I don't think there's anything I particularly do that justifies that assumption," Pokimane said. "I love communicating with my entire audience or random people however I can. I don't like putting a price amount on it."
While said issues will likely remain, especially as sexism in the video gaming industry persists, Pokimane stands as a role model for how to maintain balance between the public and the private in a world where the lines become blurred more every single day.
Pokimane defended herself against memes about a made-up relationship
For Pokimane, it's not unusual to discover memes hypothesizing about her potential relationships with fellow gamers. But, when asked how she felt about a rumor regarding her and fellow streamer HasanAbi, the Twitch star cringed in disgust. "I'm sorry, this is really gross," Pokimane told Greekgodx during their joint Twitch stream in June 2019 (per Dexerto). "I really don't like this. Ehh... nu-uh. You know, I actually tried... to separate myself from people once all that started happening. It was just gross."
Another Twitch star, InvaderVie, claimed Pokimane and HasanAbi were "physical" with each other, so Pokimane had no choice but to debunk these unfounded rumors. "This clip baffled and disappointed me," Pokimane wrote via Reddit. "I know random LSF [Livestream Fails] comments will speculate about my private life, but to see another streamer (and one that I'm acquainted with), make such large assumptions and then proceed to state them as fact on their stream feels really disrespectful and invasive. Thank you to those that didn't take this as gospel, but instead got her to clarify on why she said it (which was just because he was smiling at me). Not cool, Vie."
Women face an uphill battle for respect in the gaming industry, so it's especially disheartening to see one female streamer undermine the integrity of another. Pokimane has every right to keep her love life private and such hurtful rumors further validate her decision to conceal these details.