The word eSports appears to be a never-ending pit of drama and controversies. It seems like no game is complete without its fair share of headline-grabbing scandals. From gaming giants like Blizzard facing the heat for sexual assault allegations to our beloved streamers finding themselves in the crosshairs of legal threats, the gaming realm has lost some of its carefree charms.
Even amid the chaos and controversy, there’s a shining beacon of popularity as more celebrities from the entertainment industry dive headfirst into the exhilarating realm of online gaming and streaming. The most recent feud that shook this web of streamers involved the Stranger Things star Grace Van Dien and the popular streamer FaZe Rain. Things keep on taking a turn for the worse as time goes on, so here’s an explanation of everything that went on.
What is the FaZe Clan?
For those of you who aren’t avid gamers, the name FaZe Clan might ring unfamiliar bells, but for those well-versed in the streamer-sphere, this group of individuals holds tremendous influence in the gaming universe. Simply put, FaZe Clan is a professional eSports organization and team hailing from Los Angeles, California. Their journey began back in 2010 when a trio of gaming wizards started as FaZe Sniping, resulting from their jaw-dropping trick shots in the early days of Call of Duty.
Since then, this squad has expanded its ranks and expertise across a variety of games, including Counter-Strike, PUBG, Valorant, Fortnite, and many more. With players scattered across the globe, FaZe Clan welcomed an unexpected addition to their ranks — none other than actress Grace Van Dien, known by her handle “bluefille.” While it may have raised a few eyebrows, particularly because FaZe Clan is one of the biggest names in the streaming universe, fans of the actress weren’t entirely surprised since she had previously bid farewell to the acting world and embarked on an exciting new journey in the realm of streaming.
This new addition resulted in an absolute debacle among streamers, and more specifically, among members of the clan who weren’t at all content with the new name joining the roster. Names like FaZe Rain and even xQc quickly spoke up on the subject, adding even more fuel to the already existing fire. Now that we know how FaZe Rain and FaZe Bluefille (aka Van Dien) crossed paths, let’s delve into the intriguing developments that unfolded between these two streamers.
What happened between FaZe Rain and Grace Van Dien?
The feud took off when Van Dien made her grand entrance into the FaZe roster, stirring up a storm of criticism from fellow streamers. Among the disapproving voices was none other than FaZe Rain himself — a popular gaming streamer notorious for his controversial opinions. In a surprising twist, it was FaZe Rain who broke the news of her recruit rather than the actress or the FaZe Clan, showcasing his immediate disdain for the situation.
As news spread, other members of the squad couldn’t resist chiming in, fueling the fire with their own critiques of their teammates’ reactions. And thus began an intense back-and-forth exchange of reactions and videos that showed no signs of simmering down. During a live stream, Van Dien decided to confront the whole debacle head-on, sarcastically asking, “Were you at the meeting? I don’t even know you.” But she didn’t stop there. She delivered her final blow, telling FaZe Rain to “get f**king wrecked.”
“Get fucking wrecked” – Grace Van Dien addressing the FaZe drama and speaking about FaZe Rain. #DramaAlert pic.twitter.com/AwBvgoItDE
— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) May 26, 2023
From that point on, the insults escalated to a personal level. FaZe Rain publicly declared in a video that the actress was “excruciatingly mid,” claiming he “wouldn’t even consider touching her on [his] drunkest night.” In response, Van Dien struck a nerve by mentioning his previous struggles with substance abuse, a dark chapter that left the streamer physically disabled. Her comment ignited a firestorm of criticism from various corners of the internet, accusing her of crossing the line by bringing up one of the streamer’s most vulnerable moments.
“I know you, Rain, as the person who almost overdosed on a livestream,” she said. “And I know that you’re better now, and I’m really proud of you for that. I am.”
On May 19, the duo announced on Instagram that they were about to shoot a video together, where they’d bring up their previous hurtful words, and in hopes of finally closing down this conversation.
Grace Van Dien and FaZe Rain’s new video
As promised, the contentious streaming duo finally met up to discuss the aforementioned situation. Although the 20-minute-long video does present some well-humored moments between the two, things took a turn when Rain brought up her previous comments, by claiming she was victimizing herself and that he could play the same game.
“You wanna super-victimize yourself over that? Okay, I guess I’m hurt. How dare you bring up the worst time in my life? I’m f**king hurt. How dare you? It’s like, what are we talking about? I’m f**king hurt, I almost died. I called you mid and your response is how I almost took my life? That I almost left my mom without a son and support? Because I could play that f**king game all day. “
Rain went on to attempt to appease the situation by telling the actress she should not have minded his comments nearly as much as she did, almost diminishing the fact that he undervalued her work on top of objectifying her.
“How could you let other people hurt your feelings? Do you not believe in yourself? Are you not a confident woman? You should be. You’ve accomplished great things. You should be confident in yourself. How is this hurting your feelings? If I call you mid, you should be like who cares what I say? And if you bring up my drug past – are you getting emotional?”
At this point in the video, Van Dien became emotional, directly telling Rain that she “did not like [him].” After a constant back-and-forth of insults, Van Dien ended the video by leaving the apartment, threatening to leave FaZe if the video went up online — which it did. In response, FaZe Clan finally made a public claim in response to the situation, siding with the actress.
Although hardly the end of it — especially after Rain commented on the same tweet — only time will tell if Van Dien will ultimately end her contract with FaZe after this unnecessarily aggressive feud with Rain.