Destiny | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bonnell in 2022 | |
| Born | Steven Kenneth Bonnell II (1988-12-12)December 12, 1988 (age 36)[1] Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | [2] |
| Children | 1 |
| Twitch information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2011–2022 |
| Genre | Politics/Gaming |
| Followers | 699 thousand (before his indefinite suspension) |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Genres | |
| Subscribers | 850 thousand |
| Views | 712 million |
| Last updated: October 19, 2025 | |
| Website | www |
Steven Kenneth Bonnell II (born December 12, 1988), known online asDestiny, is an Americanlive streamer andpolitical commentator. He was among the first people to stream video games online full-time.[3] Since 2016, he has streamed political debates with other online personalities, in which he advocates forliberal andsocial democratic policies.[4][5][6]
Steven Kenneth Bonnell II was born inOmaha, Nebraska.[4] He was raised in a conservativeCatholic home,[4] and he attendedCreighton Preparatory School, a privateJesuit high school for boys.[5] When he was apre-teen, his mother's homedaycare business collapsed, and his family's home wasforeclosed.[5] A few years later his parents moved to take care of an aging relative, after which he lived with his grandmother until he was 18.[4]
In 2007, Bonnell enrolled at theUniversity of Nebraska Omaha, where he studied music while working as a restaurant manager at a casino, mostly at night. Struggling to juggle both his education and full-time work, Bonnell dropped out of college in 2010. Within a year, he was fired from his job, which he attributes to his difficulty navigating workplace politics and understanding others' emotional experiences.[4]
Bonnell later found work as acarpet cleaner, working 12-hour days forcommission. According to Bonnell, his average pay was $3–4 an hour (equivalent to $4.3–5.8 an hour in 2024).[4][5]
In 2011, Bonnell quit his job as a carpet cleaner to stream video games full-time. Streaming hisStarcraft II matches onlivestream.com andustream.tv,[7] thenJustin.tv (nowTwitch), he was immediately financially successful.[3][5][8] In October of that year, Bonnell joined professional team Quantic Gaming and placed 4th in the 2011MLG Global North American invitational.[9]
During his years as aStarcraft II streamer, Bonnell was known for his abrasive and confrontational style, including use of "acerbic and often offensive" comments against other players forshock humor.[3]
Starting in 2016, Bonnell live-streamed political debates with other internet personalities. Bonnell debated YouTuber Jon Jafari, better known asJonTron, onimmigration andassimilation in March 2017, after Jafari tweeted in support of anti-immigration statements byRepublican congressmanSteve King. In his debate with Bonnell, Jafari's statements concerning race, crime, and immigration were seen as controversial by viewers, and the subsequent backlash garnered media attention.[10][11][12]
Bonnell received a 30-day suspension from Twitch in summer 2018 for using the wordfaggot.[13] In November 2018, Bonnell and fellow streamerTrihex (Mychal Ramon Jefferson) premiered a political commentary collaboration, TheDT Podcast. Thepodcast streamed its final episode in October 2019, during which Jefferson confronted Bonnell regarding statements the latter had made defending his use of offensive humor—includingracial slurs—in private.[5][14] Fellow Twitch streamerHasan Piker, who had previously reached out to "to form an allegiance", distanced himself from Bonnell in-part because of the controversy.[5]
Bonnell was indefinitely banned from Twitch due to "hateful conduct" in March 2022.[15][16][17]Dot Esports speculates that this may have been due to Bonnell streaming with white nationalistNick Fuentes, who had previously been banned from the platform, while Bonnell speculated it was due to him expressing the view that "trans women shouldn't compete withcis women in women's athletics".[15][16][18]
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Bonnell interviewed U.S. RepresentativeRo Khanna, alongside other political streamers such asVaush,Emma Vigeland (co-host ofThe Majority Report), andKeffals, about various topics in September 2023, including the importance of youth political participation and ways to pushprogressive political sentiment, as well as asking questions about Khanna.[19][20][21] Beginning in early 2024, Bonnell began co-hosting the "Bridges" and "Anything Else?" podcasts.[22][23]
In late 2024, members of Bonnell'sReddit andDiscord communities began participating in an online campaign against Twitch, pressuring Twitch advertisers under the allegation that the website was promotingantisemitic content. Some activists of the campaign were led by Dan Saltman, an online commentator and Bonnell's podcast co-host, who has launched multiplegripe sites that targeted Twitch's CEODan Clancy and Amazon vice-presidentSteve Boom. Saltman stated that "The goal of our campaign is simple: The CEO, Dan Clancy stepping down."[17]
Bonnell has stated that his personal involvement in the campaign has been minimal. According toBloomberg writerCecilia D'Anastasio, both Bonnell's and Saltman's fans harassed multiple Twitch employees, including members of the company's trust and safety department.[24] Critics of the campaign also accused Bonnell and Saltman of harassing female journalists.[17] Saltman was ultimately banned from Twitch in November due to the stated reason of "extreme harassment". In response, Saltman stated that "allegations of harassment are often made by people who have been exposed for their bigotry, sexism and hatred".[24]
Bonnell identified as alibertarian, anti-SJW "withright-of-center social beliefs" until 2012, when his political outlook began shifting towardliberalism after an incident in which he heard another streamer use ahomophobic slur.[4][5] Bonnell has argued against certain aspects of bothfar-right politics andfar-left politics.[4][5] Furthermore, he has promoted the idea that college campuses should have students who have diverse opinions in order to reduce polarization.[25]
Bonnell has stated that his intention is not to persuade their opponents but to persuade the audience; although he has expressed that airing his opinions often feels "like screaming into the void", he estimates he has received hundreds of emails from former members of thealt-right crediting him for their conversion toleft-wing politics.[4][5] Subsequent journalistic and academic coverage of right-wingYouTube commentary has credited Bonnell as an early and effective opposition to it, particularly owing to his provocative, combative debate style which appeals to right-wing gaming audiences.[26][4] Bonnell has cited his poverty during his teenage and college-aged years as an influence on his views, and says that he prefers to argue based onempirical data rather thanmoral suasion.[5]
Bonnell was notified in September 2020 that his Twitch partnership agreement would be terminated the following month for "encouragement of violence". The termination came as a result of comments made on-stream after theKenosha unrest shooting, when Bonnell said:
"Therioting needs to fucking stop, and if that means like whiteredneck fuckingmilitia dudes out there mowing down dipshit protesters that think that they can torch buildings at ten p.m., then at this point they have my fucking blessing, because holy shit, this fucking shit needs to stop, it needed to stop a long time ago."[27]
After thefirst 2024 assassination attempt of Donald Trump, which killed one Trump rally attendee and injured two others,[28] Bonnell stated that Trump and his supporters "reap what they sow, and I'm here to watch the harvest".The Economist cited Bonnell as an example of an "angryprogressive" who "lamented" that the attempt had failed.[29]
Following the2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Bonnell expressed support forIsrael, stating, "ThePalestinians are oppressed by all the Arab countries, and no country from them, which is supposed to be on 'their' side, has bothered to offer them a real solution—and yet, their anger is directed fully at Israel, and unjustifiably in my opinion."[30] In a debate withNathan J. Robinson, Bonnell argued against thePalestinian right of return, believing it would make peace and atwo-state solution impossible. Robinson responded by arguing that Arab leaders (Yasser Arafat and theArab Peace Initiative) had shown a willingness to compromise on the right of return.[31]
In March 2024, Bonnell debated theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict and theGaza war on theLex Fridman Podcast with political scientistNorman Finkelstein, historianBenny Morris, and political analystMouin Rabbani, representing the pro-Israel side alongside Morris.[32] Bonnell and Finkelstein had heated exchanges during the debate.[33] He has criticized streamerHasan Piker, including Piker'scriticism of Israel.[24]
In 2019, Bonnell began publicly debating in favor ofcapitalism againstsocialists andcommunists.[4] In 2021, he debatedMarxian economistRichard D. Wolff, with Bonnell defending capitalism. Bonnell described the label of "socialism" as poorly defined, and noted a history offamine and abuses in countries like theSoviet Union andChina, while Wolff responded by disputing Bonnell's characterization of his views on socialism throughout the debate.[6]
In 2020, Bonnell supported thegeneral election campaign ofJoe Biden.[34] Following Biden's victory, Bonnell led acanvassing campaign in support ofDemocratic candidatesJon Ossoff andRaphael Warnock in the2020–21 Georgia Senate runoffs.[35] With the help of approximately 140 volunteers mobilized from Bonnell's online audience, the campaign knocked on an estimated 17,500–20,000 doors inColumbus, Georgia, making it one of the larger campaigns of the election.[36] Bonnell led another canvassing operation in support of Mark Gudgel for the2021 Omaha mayoral election.[37] On March 3, 2021, Gudgel officially cut ties with Bonnell over the latter's statements regarding riots at theGeorge Floyd protests.[27][38]
In 2024, Bonnell, who endorsedKamala Harris during the2024 United States presidential election, debated YouTuber John Doyle, who endorsed Donald Trump.[39] In February 2024, Bonnell spearheaded canvassing efforts by political activist groupProgressive Victory inCincinnati, Ohio, to supportSherrod Brown in theOhio US senate race.[40][41]
Bonnell lived in Nebraska before relocating to theLos Angeles area in December 2018.[5][4] In late 2021, he moved toMiami, Florida.[42]
Bonnell has been married twice and has a son.[43] He is openlybisexual,[44] and his second marriage was anopen marriage with Swedish streamer Melina Göransson.[5][45][46] Bonnell and Göransson married in December 2021.[47] They separated and filed for divorce in December 2023.[48]
In February 2025, a federal lawsuit was filed in theSouthern District of Florida alleging that Bonnell shared a sexual video of fellow political streamer "Pxie" without her consent or knowledge, violating a federalrevenge porn law and Florida's law against cyber sexual harassment.[49][50] Prior to the filing of the suit, Bonnell publicly commented that the intimate video had been shared with third parties due to a leak that "happened without my knowledge, consent, or authorization".[49][51] After the suit was filed, Bonnell released a longer public statement addressing the allegations.[49][52]
Some angry progressives are lamenting that the bullet grazed Mr Trump's ear, missing his skull by millimetres. Destiny, a leftist social-media commentator, told his 250,000 X followers that Mr Trump and his supporters will 'reap what they sow, and I'm here to watch the harvest'.
Melina and I are currently in an open/poly relationship. We treat each other as primary partners, though we may pursue other sexual/romantic relationships as well.
