Microsoft's Mixer Platform Ends Partnership With Popular Streamer Following "Registered Sex Offender" Comments

Verified and partner-level streamer HarrisonJr shared a picture of himself last week in a since-deleted tweet with the caption, "Come watch a registered sex offender plays (sic) Fortnite with 10 year olds!!"

A streamer on Microsoft’s Mixer livestreaming platform (a competitor of Amazon's Twitch) remains active despite appearing to violate the platform’s rules of conduct with comments that referenced pedophilia and sexual predation.

Harrison "HarrisonJr" Patrick Stewart, a verified personality and partner-level streamer on Microsoft's Mixer platform (whose real name is linked on his page via an IMDB credit), shared a picture of himself last week in a since-deleted tweet sporting a mustache and sunglasses with the caption, "Come watch a registered sex offender plays (sic) Fortnite with 10 year olds!!"

HarrisonJr currently has more than 80,000 followers on Mixer and joined the platform in 2017. In response to his comments, various Mixer streamers called for him to be banned from the platform.

“We take immediate action when we determine content violates our terms of service," a Microsoft spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We encourage our users to report potential violations, and we provide guidance on how to do that. We’ve reviewed the content in question and as a result made the decision to end our partnership.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the verification badge on HarrisonJr's Mixer channel was removed. It had been present earlier that day. HarrisonJr began streaming on his channel personally (playing Fortnite) around 4 p.m. PT on Tuesday, and his channel is still active.

Last Thursday, HarrisonJr issued an apology through his Twitter account: "I want to apologize for my recent tweet. I absolutely agree that it was inappropriate and I'm sorry to the people that it upset. I made it without thinking how it would read. I meant it as a joke, but I agree with the fact that it isn't something to be joked about. I'm sorry."

In a second tweet, posted shortly thereafter, he added, "Let me say once again that I do not condone what I did, and I feel terrible that I actually hurt people. I'll never stop apologizing for that."

HarrisonJr's Mixer page was still active on Tuesday, where visitors were greeted with a "mature content" warning before entering. Mixer's official rules of conduct state that "it is NEVER ok to discuss sex and a person under 18 at the same time" during a stream. HarrisonJr's comments were not made while on Mixer, but the platform's rules do also note that "although we do not enforce our rules on conversations held on other sites (Discord, Curse, Skype, Twitter, etc), we do ask you to treat others in the community the same way you would treat them on Mixer."

By Wednesday morning, HarrisonJr's page appeared to be inactive.

Last year, in September, one of the largest stings in U.S. history related to online gaming predation, a multi-agency undercover investigation dubbed "Operation Open House," led to the arrest of 24 people in New Jersey for allegedly using games like Fortnite and Minecraft to lure and groom minors for sex. FBI special agent Kevin Kaufman told THR in August that online game platforms have "made it much, much easier for predators to go online and target our kids."

Dec. 11, 9:20 am PST Updated headline and story to note that Microsoft has responded, de-partnered HarrisonJr's account and that his Mixer page is now inactive.

Dec. 10, 3:49 p.m. PST Updated with removal of HarrisonJr's verification on Mixer.

Dec. 10, 5:48 p.m. PST Updated with comment from Microsoft.