Hasan Piker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Piker atPoliticon 2018 | |
| Born | Hasan Doğan Piker (1991-07-25)July 25, 1991 (age 34)[1] |
| Other names | HasanAbi |
| Education | University of MiamiRutgers University, New Brunswick (BA) |
| Occupations | |
| Relatives | Cenk Uygur (uncle) |
| Twitch information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Genres | |
| Followers | 3 million |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Subscribers | 1.76 million |
| Views | 920 million |
| Last updated: November 22, 2025 | |
| Signature | |
 | |
Hasan Doğan Piker[a] (born July 25, 1991), also known by theonline nameHasanAbi, is an Americanonline streamer,influencer, andleft-wing political commentator. His streams typically consist of political and social commentary, andmedia consumption.[3] As of 2025, Piker is the21st most subscribed channel on the streaming platformTwitch.[4] Piker started streaming on Twitch in March 2018 while working atThe Young Turks.
In January 2020, he left TYT to focus on his career as a Twitch streamer. Piker has been described as Twitch's "de facto political commentator" who uses an unabashedly ideological framing. Piker has regularly spoken about theGaza war by advocating for Palestinians and criticizing the Israeli government.
Hasan Doğan Piker was born toTurkish parents inNew Brunswick, New Jersey, but grew up inIstanbul and was raised as aMuslim.[5][6] His father's family emigrated to Turkey fromThessaloniki andCrete, Greece.[7] His father, Mehmet Behçet Piker, is apolitical scientist andeconomist who served on the Board of Directors (and as Vice President) ofSabancı Holding, and who is a founding member of theconservativeFuture Party in Turkey.[8][9] His mother, Ülker Sedef Piker (née Uygur),[10][11] is anart andarchitectural historian teaching at theNew Jersey Institute of Technology.[12][13] His uncleCenk Uygur is a political commentator and co-founder ofThe Young Turks, aprogressive andleft-wing populist news network.[14]
Piker returned to the United States and attended theUniversity of Miami, then transferred toRutgers University, where he graduatedcum laude with a double major inpolitical science andcommunication studies in 2013.[15][6] In 2013, Piker moved toLos Angeles,California, after graduating from Rutgers University.[16] In 2021, Piker purchased a $2.7 million 3,800-square-foot two-story house inWest Hollywood, California.[17] Most of Piker’s streams have been filmed in his house.[16]
During his senior year of college in 2013, Pikerinterned forThe Young Turks (TYT), aprogressive news show and network co-founded by his uncle,Cenk Uygur. After graduating, Piker was hired by the network's ad sales and business department. He asked to host the show when a fill-in was needed and later became a host and producer.[6][18]
In 2016, Piker created and hostedThe Breakdown, aTYT Network video series which aired onFacebook and presented left-leaning political analyses targeted, at the time, atmillennial supporters of presidential candidateBernie Sanders.[15][18] Piker also contributed political content toHuffPost from 2016 to 2018.[1][19][20]
Piker started streaming onTwitch in March 2018 while working at TYT.[5] In January 2020, he left TYT to focus on his career as a Twitch streamer.[21] Piker said that he shifted his attention from Facebook to Twitch in order to reach a younger audience and because of what he felt was a preponderance ofright-wing commentators onYouTube and a lack of leftist representation among streamers.[3][22][23] He became a popularleft-wing political commentator, and was invited to appear onKTTV'sThe Issue Is and the political podcastChapo Trap House.[3][24][25] His YouTube channel features highlights of his streams, and in 2022 reached over 1,000,000 subscribers.[26] Piker also streams gameplay and commentary of video games on his Twitch channel.[21][27][28] Sometimes Piker willrole-play as "Hank Pecker", an ethno-political caricature of a "right-wingredneck".[29][30]
During a Twitch stream in August 2019, Piker criticizedAmerican foreign policy and made controversial comments relating to theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks, including "America deserved 9/11."[31][32] Piker described his comments assatirical and cited American foreign policy as promoting conditions to make an event like 9/11 possible, but acknowledged that he should have used "more precise" language.[31] Piker received a short-term ban for his comments.[32]
In 2021, Piker was banned from Twitch for one week after using the slur "cracker" in reference to white people, after two of his chat moderators were banned for using it.[33][34][35] Piker argued the term should not be considered a slur since a person using it is "powerless" and "doing it as someone who has been historically oppressed blowing off steam." He further contended "cracker" is not a slur in the same way as other terms.[33] A paper inNew Media & Society criticized Twitch for punishing Piker while epithets aimed at minority groups were prevalent on the platform.[36]
On February 28, 2025, Piker stated that if Republicans "cared aboutMedicare fraud, orMedicaid fraud, [they] would killRick Scott", in a reference to Scott's involvement in Medicare and Medicaid fraud when he was the CEO of Columbia/HCA. Piker was banned for 24 hours by Twitch on March 3 in relation to the comment.[37] On May 25, 2025, Piker was banned on Twitch for 24 hours after showing an alleged manifesto of Elias Rodriguez, the perpetrator of the2025 Capital Jewish Museum shooting. Twitch banned Piker shortly after, citing their policy of "improper handling of terrorist propaganda".[38]
On October 19, 2020, U.S. representativeAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez collaborated with Piker and fellow Twitch streamerPokimane to organize a stream of the Representative playing the popular multiplayer gameAmong Us for the "Get out the vote" initiative for the upcomingpresidential election.[21][39] The stream aired the following day, featuring both Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. RepresentativeIlhan Omar playing the game with Piker and other popular Twitch streamers, reaching a total concurrent viewership of almost 700,000.[40][41][42]
During the first2020 United States presidential debate on September 29, Piker had over 125,000 viewers watching his commentary of the broadcast, the highest viewership of the debate on Twitch.[43] Piker's stream covering the results of the2020 United States presidential election peaked at 230,000 concurrent viewers and was the sixth most-watched source of election coverage across YouTube and Twitch, comprising 4.9% of the market share.[44][45][46][47] He was the most watched Twitch streamer during the election week; his 80 hours of streams were viewed for a cumulative 6.8 million hours by an average of 75,000 concurrent viewers.[5][48][49] Piker's stream reached a new high of 231,000 viewers during theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack.[50] Piker's2024 election night coverage stream had 7.5 million total viewers.[51]
During theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Piker, in partnership withCARE, raised over $200,000 for Ukrainianrelief funds while playingElden Ring, with an average of over 70,000 people watching his coverage of the conflict.[52][53][54]
In the aftermath of theFebruary 6, 2023, Turkey–Syria earthquake, Piker organized a fundraiser that was also contributed to and promoted by other streamers andcontent creators includingJacksepticeye,Valkyrae,Ludwig Ahgren andIShowSpeed. As of February 10[update], the fundraiser had raised over $1,200,000 for charities such as CARE International's Turkish and Syrian branches as well as two TurkishNGOs: theAKUT Search and Rescue Association, and Ahbap, which was founded by Turkish musicianHaluk Levent.[55][56][57]
During theGaza war, Piker's charity drive on his channel raised over $1,000,000, as of October 21, 2023, for thePalestine Children's Relief Fund,American Near East Refugee Aid,Medical Aid for Palestinians, and thePalestinian Red Crescent Society.[58][59]
Since 2021, Piker has hosted the podcastFear& (formerlyFear&Malding) alongside his friend and fellow Twitch streamer,Will Neff.[60] StreamersQTCinderella andAustinShow would later join the podcast as co-hosts in 2022.[61]
From September 26, 2021, to October 12, 2023, Piker co-hosted theleft-leaning political podcastLeftovers with co-hostEthan Klein.[60][62] The two later had a public feud due to diverging views of theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict. While both Klein and Piker accused Israel ofgenocide, Klein accused Piker of sympathizing withterrorism, while Piker accused Klein ofracism.[63]
Piker has been most commonly identified as aleftist,socialist, andMarxist.[5][26][64][65] He has advocated in favor ofworkplace democracy,[66]universal health care,[67]LGBTQ+ rights,[67]anti-Zionism,[64] andgun control.[68]Andrew Marantz ofThe New Yorker described Piker asanti-Trump but "hardly a loyalDemocrat". Instead, Marantz classified Piker as an "old-school leftist", critical of the "American empire".[64] In an interview withGQ magazine, Piker stated that his goal was to push the Democratic Party to be more progressive.[63]Intelligencer called Piker "theAOC of Twitch".[32]
Piker has cited his upbringing in Turkey under thePremiership ofRecep Tayyip Erdoğan as an influence on both his left-wing views and willingness to speak out about them.[26][18] He has mentionedAmy Goodman,Jon Stewart,Aaron McGruder, andBill Burr as influences on the content and style of his streams.[69]
Piker supported thepresidential primary campaigns ofBernie Sanders in2016 and2020,[67] and has been an outspoken critic of both theDemocratic andRepublican parties.[6][70] Piker opposedDonald Trump'stravel ban in 2017.[18][71] Following the arrest ofLuigi Mangione (the suspect in the killing ofUnitedHealthcare CEOBrian Thompson), Piker supported Mangione and praised the tactic of thepropaganda of the deed on his stream, but avoided breaking Twitch's terms of service rules regarding glorification of violence.[64]
In May 2025, Piker was detained byU.S. Customs and Border Protection atO'Hare International Airport inChicago after returning from a trip to France. According to Piker, the officials who questioned him during his detainment knew who he was and asked him detailed questions about his views on Donald Trump, Israel, Houthi rebels, Hamas and his bans from Twitch. Piker believes that he was detained due to his political views and that his detainment is part of intimidation tactics by the Trump administration to silence political opposition. Tricia McLaughlin, the Assistant Secretary of theU.S. Department of Homeland Security, accused Piker of "lying for likes" and said it was a routine inspection that any traveler could be subjected to.[72][73][74]
In the2025 New York City mayoral race, Piker expressed support forZohran Mamdani, and Mamdani appeared as a guest on Piker's show.[75] During the campaign, Mamdani’s political opponents used Piker's past remarks, especially his 2019 comment that "America deserved9/11", in attacks against Mamdani, including in a televised advertisement aired by a pro-Andrew Cuomosuper PAC.[76] Mamdani disavowed Piker's comments during a mayoral debate, calling them "objectionable and reprehensible".[77]
Piker has regularly spoken about theGaza war by advocating for Palestinians and criticizing the Israeli government.[78][79]Andrew Marantz ofThe New Yorker noted that Piker's criticism of Israel, as well as his comments aboutHamas, theHouthis, andHezbollah, had generated controversy. The pro-Israel groupStopAntisemitism nominated Piker as "Antisemite of the Year" in 2024.[64] In January 2024, Piker interviewed a Yemeni self-proclaimed "pirate" who had filmed himself on board theGalaxy Leader, a Bahamas-flagged ship that has been held captive by Houthi militants since November 2023.[80]
In November 2024, CongressmanRitchie Torres criticized Twitch for alleged "amplification ofantisemitism", specifically calling for an investigation into Piker.[78] Piker defended himself, arguing that he did not criticize Jewish people as a whole and was onlyanti-Zionist.[78][79][81] A campaign by various commentators pressured advertisers to leave Twitch due to the platforming of alleged antisemitism, including Piker's political commentary of the conflict.[78][79] Both the pressure campaign and Ritchie Torres posted clips of Piker's channel they alleged to be antisemitic. Piker rejected the charge, arguing the clips were taken out of context.[78][79][81] Because of the controversy, some advertisers have pulled advertisements.[81]
Piker has been described as Twitch's "de facto political commentator" who uses an unabashedly ideological framing.[82] Outlets dedicated tovideo game culture andyouth culture have covered Piker's streams positively. In particular, journalists have noted his ability to "combine information and entertainment,"[18][82] and to approach left-wing political coverage in a way that is relatable and accessible to Twitch viewers, who may feel out of touch withcable news.[44][83][84][52] Some authors also cite Piker's vulgar, animated style of expression, and his physical appearance as notable factors behind his popularity.[18][83][85]
In July 2024, Alex Mahadevan of thePoynter Institute for Media Studies cited Piker as an example of the "online chattering class" who do not hold themselves tojournalistic ethics, in contrast to their peers intraditional media, saying Piker "shares as much misinformation as anyone on the [political] right".[86] A September 2024 article in the academic journalDigital Journalism discussed a similar theme, characterizing Piker as emblematic of an emerging "Newsfluencers" class (influencers who mainly cover news) with a tendency towards "problematic behavior" that conflicted with journalistic objectivity.[85] In April 2024, a contributor to the same journal noted that Piker is familiar with journalistic mechanics such as sourcing, framing, and objectivity, but rejects these as methods used for "manufacturing consent for elites".[82] Instead, Piker mainly sources his information from social media, often supplied to him by his audience.[82]The Washington Post has also categorized Piker as a news-based influencer who does not feel bound to journalistic objectivity.[52]
Andrew Marantz ofThe New Yorker noted that Piker was controversial on both thepolitical left andright: "When Piker is criticized by the right, it's usually for soft-pedalling the brutality ofHamas, or theHouthis, or theChinese Communist Party... By the left, he is more likely to be dismissed as alimousine socialist who lives in a $2.7-million house."[64] According to Kieran Press-Reynolds ofGQ magazine, Piker was also controversial amongliberals and theDemocratic Party, the cause of which Piker attributed to hiscriticism of Israel.[63] However, Marantz also wrote that Piker's tolerance of controversy and appeal to young men made him an ideal candidate for the "Joe Rogan of the left".[64]
Kieran Press-Reynolds ofGQ magazine reported that Piker had previously been criticized for playing other content creators' videos on his streams while he was off-camera. In an interview with Press-Reynolds, Piker acknowledged that he had responded to the criticism, dubbed "Reactgate", poorly, and apologized.[63] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Piker apologized for insisting in theprelude that Russia would not attack. He stated: "[I] didn't think a regional power would act so irrationally. I've admitted my mistakes. I got things wrong."[52]
Gaming websiteKotaku selected Piker as one of their "Gamers of the Year" for 2020, citing him as a major figure in the mainstreaming of political commentary on Twitch, a platform which in the past was seen as discouraging to political discussion.[49][84][87] Piker won aStreamy in the News category at the10th annual awards in 2020 and was nominated again in the same category for the2021 event.[88][89] In 2022, Piker wasnominated in the categories News, Just Chatting, and Streamer of the Year, winning the News award for the second time and being nominated for three consecutive years.[90][91]
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shorty Awards | 2018 | Web Series | The Breakdown[b] | Nominated | [92] |
| Webby Awards | 2018 | News & Information | Nominated | [93] | |
| theScore esports Awards | 2020 | Like & Subscribe | HasanAbi | Won | [94] |
| The Streamer Awards | 2021 | Best Just Chatting Streamer | Nominated | [95] | |
| 2022 | Streamer of the Year | Nominated | [96] | ||
| Best Just Chatting Streamer | Won | ||||
| 2023 | Nominated | [97] | |||
| 2024 | Nominated | [98][99] | |||
| Streamy Awards | 2020 | News | Won | [88] | |
| 2021 | Nominated | [89] | |||
| 2022 | Streamer of the Year | Nominated | [100] | ||
| Just Chatting | Nominated | ||||
| News | Won | ||||
| 2023 | Won | [101] | |||
| Streamer of the Year | Nominated | [101] | |||
| Just Chatting | Nominated |
Halkias: By the way, I was doing a little research ... your family immigrated from where, Hasan?Piker: Oh my god ... my mother's side is all the way from Kudüs, so they have like Arabic descent – and y'know Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, all that stuff. My father's side on the other hand, is from Selanik and Crete.Halkias: I don't know about Selanik, they say something else on the internet ... "his father's family emigrated to Turkey from Drama, Greece."Piker: Wait, that's not correct.Halkias: (laughs) Well, that's what the internet says. So, whatever part of him that of him that's successful, that's the Greek part, folks. And the backstabbing, conniving, uh.. other stuff, Turk. (laughs)Piker: I don't know why it says Drama ... my grandfather that I'm named after ... is from Selanik and then my grandmother is from Crete. So we hit the mainland and the islands, y'know what I mean? We got it all.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan interviewed Piker, whose election night livestream notched 7.5 million viewers when Vice President Kamala Harris lost to President-elect Donald Trump.
Piker: Yes and no. I try to redirect people's anger and resentment to systemic problems because I'm a leftist, I'm a Marxist, I'm a socialist, and therefore I believe that everything still comes back to material conditions.
