The Game Awards 2022 stage interruption
Matan Even, commonly referred to as the "Bill Clinton Kid,"[lower-alpha 1]is a Jewish-American activist and internet personality. He garnered significant notoriety on December 8, 2022 when he snuck onstage during The Game Awards and delivered a nonsensical speech, seconds after Elden Ring was announced as Game of the Year, in which he wished to thank former United States president Bill Clinton. Even was arrested shortly after.
Life and early activism[edit]
Even was born on April 23, 2007.[1] Beginning in 2019, Even led an online career in political activism under the pseudonym "Matan Evenoff."[2]
In October 2019 at 12 years old, Even held up a "Stand with Hong Kong" shirt while on 'Dance Cam' during a Clippers game, in support of the 'Free Hong Kong' movement.[2] In November 2019, Even went into the World of Warcraft panel at BlizzCon, and proceeded to chant "Free Hong Kong."[1][3] After garnering attention for his numerous political stunts, Even had the opportunity to be interviewed by InfoWars,[4] an appearance he later disavowed.[5]
The Game Awards 2022 stage interruption[edit]
Incident[edit]
Even, dawning a new fabricated Israeli accent, gave the following speech, "Hey Martin, you know real quick I want to thank everybody and say that I think I want to nominate this award to my reformed Orthodox Rabbi, Bill Clinton. Thank you, everybody."[6] Immediately after finishing his statement, security was called to remove him from the stage.[7] Ceremony host Geoff Keighley announced that he had been arrested minutes later.[6] LAPD Officer Matthew Cruz later stated that Even was no longer arrested, but detained, for his "theatrical exhibition."[8] He was soon released from detainment.
Reception[edit]
Upon the closing of the ceremony, the interruption received significant media attention. Rumors based on Even’s past began to spread claiming that his speech was a Nazi dog whistle, with some attributes to this being his attire including Yeezys.[4] These rumors ceased when it was revealed that Even was Jewish and spoke fluent Hebrew.[5]
The incident also garnered a lot of attention online. Several people posted memes,[9] including billionaire Elon Musk.[8]
After claiming responsibility for the incident, Even amassed a large following across his various social media.[1] Even claims the stunt was not meaningless, stating the message was to be “as good as Bill Clinton,” and live in a “good country where we all have the freedom.”[8]
Post-Game Awards and continued online presence[edit]
Since the Game Awards incident, Even has appeared on several podcasts and interviews, such as his interview with live streamer Sneako,[10] and his brief appearance on Twitch star Kai Cenat's live stream.[11] Even went viral for asking OnlyFans models to "Name 10 books," a task the models were unable to perform.[10] When on these podcasts, Even mainly focused on his opposition to OnlyFans, no longer focusing on the "Free Hong Kong" movement.
References[edit]
- ↑ Sometimes he has been referred to as the "Game Awards Kid."
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tassi, Paul. "So Who Is The Game Awards' 'Elden Ring' Bill Clinton Kid?". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Kid Pulls a Political Bait and Switch on the NBA Basketball Game Dance Cam". Time. 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ Chokshi, Niraj (2019-11-01). "Why Gamers Are Protesting BlizzCon for Hong Kong". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Kid Who Crashed The Game Awards Was on Infowars When He Was 12". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Kid Who Crashed The Game Awards Has A History Of Trolling". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Eyman, Quinn. "Bill Clinton wins game of the year in Game Awards hijacking". The Hi-Times. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- ↑ Ghosh, Mukhar (2023-01-14). "Elden Ring's 'Bill Clinton Kid' Unmasked: Meet Scandal-Plagued Matan Even". Sportsmanor. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Del Rosario, Alexandra (2022-12-10). "The teen who trolled the Game Awards to shout out Bill Clinton explains why he did it". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-12-20). "Internet squared: After meme-crashing the Game Awards, 'reformed orthodox rabbi' Bill Clinton comes to Elden Ring". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Matan Even + Sneako [FULL STREAM], retrieved 2023-03-09
- ↑ "Game Awards stage crasher streamsnipes Kai Cenat & xQc in IRL Twitch stream". Dexerto. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
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