Grammy-nominated electronic musician
and DJ Joel Thomas Zimmerman, known professionally as Deadmau5
(pronounced “dead mouse”), has apologized for using a homophobic
slur.
Zimmerman was suspended from Twitch for
using homophobic language during a live stream of a PlayerUnknown's
Battleground group match.
Upset over another player “stream
sniping,” Zimmerman said: “Is that some fucking cock-sucking
stream sniper faggot!” (“Stream sniping” is the practice of
watching the Twitch stream of your opponent to find their location.
Most players consider this cheating.)
Zimmerman was initially furious over
the suspension, saying that what he said was “harmless” and vowed
not to return to the streaming gaming platform.
But he changed his tune in a longer
statement that included an apology.
“I know what I said was wrong, and my
hastily composed non-apology was insult to injury,” he said in a
Reddit post. “I realize that trying to somewhat dismiss it as
'gamer culture' was even worse. I don't know why I did that. But I
do know it was stupid and insensitive and I feel even more ashamed.
This was my worst moment.”
Zimmerman added that he would be taking
a low profile as he continues to work on new music.
Last year, Zimmerman made headlines
over a heated exchange on Twitter in which he told a user that there
were “far worse fates” than wearing a mouse head mask, such as
sucking a guy off. When called out for the comment, Zimmerman
responded: “fine. how many biological women have you sucked off?
there I fixed it.”