Hasan Piker says that the livestream event of “DebateLords” went “spectacularly well” despite “great nervousness”

DebateLords may be over, but the fundraising is not yet complete.

After raising nearly $50,000 for charity and over 600,000 views on Twitch, Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker’s first-ever live event in front of an audience was a huge success for the popular chatterbox. In fact, the whole production was, as the political commentator himself said, “fantastic.” And I agree, both as an attendee and as a reporter. The audience was active, chatting, and guests donating. It was also incredibly funny, with some crazy answers to some crazy questions. Everyone was laughing their heads off, including me.

As TwitchCon draws to a close in sunny San Diego, California, Complex managed to get one more interview with Piker before he headed out to explore the venue. In this latest chat, Piker talks about DebateLordsthe charities he’s raised money for and why, the epic face-pie finale, and his pick for the greatest livestreamer of the moment.

(This interview has been edited for clarity.)

Complex: How are you today?

Hasan Piker: (munching) Fantastic. I’m starving so I apologize for eating while I was doing this.

Complex: What do you eat?

P.S.: It’s like spinach and cheese…

Complex: Like an empanada.

P.S.: Yes, I think it’s a jalapeño cheese empanada. Do you want one?

Complex: Yes, thank you very much!

P.S.: It’s not good. I mean, it is what it is, right?

Complex: (munch) A bit of cereal, but nutritious, right?

P.S.: Yes, and right now I’ll take what I can get.

Complex: Exactly. We had talked recently before DebateLordsand you gave me some really good quotes. You abused your power, which I love. What did you think of the whole production?

P.S.: I think it went brilliantly. I was very nervous at the beginning because I had been at live events before as a simple guest presenter and the obligations there, the lift that you have in that situation, is very different than when it’s your own medium, your own product. So the sense of responsibility is much greater. And I was a little bit worried about it, especially because I had never really participated in an event like this before.

I mean, I had a huge audience. I was delivering real-time reporting on things that were breaking and changing the world. But this was really a once in a lifetime experience for me and I was very lucky to have an incredible team around me and wonderful friends who are much better than me at this kind of thing, live events and hosting them. So I think it went fantastically.

Complex: I agree. I definitely had a blast and it looked like everyone on stage was having a blast. It looked like they were having fun and it looked like the crowd was really into it too. It was a real thing.

P.S.: It was like a real television show. It was a real production.

Complex: Speaking of your friends on stage: who do you think did it best?

P.S.: I think of all the contestants that met my expectations of people, Jasontheween was probably the one that did the best. He far exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think he could show up and be so funny right away or even string sentences together. It was shocking. But he rocked it.

Complex: He had some really quotable quotes. What did he say? “Sometimes when life gives you lemons, you gotta squeeze them.”

P.S.: He (also) said: “At the end of the day it is night.”

Complex: Bars. And also the song about eating fries with ketchup.

P.S.: So this was actually a last-minute swap because Ludwig was supposed to do this section against bbno$.

Complex: The boy arrived super late.

P.S.: Yes, he did. It is what it is. But with Jasontheween, I knew that this wasn’t just Jasontheween, this was Jasontheween’s number one artist on Spotify and in Vietnam for “Deb Gai.” So right before that segment, I asked him, “Would you be up for slow jamming in an autotune segment where you freestyle your fast food order?” And he was all in. He was ready to go. And it really showed. He rocked it.

Complex: Yes, he understood the task. What was your favorite topic or answer? And if Jasontheween was best, who gave the best answer?

P.S.: I mean, I don’t think he gave the best answers. I think he just exceeded my expectations, which were low to be honest. As far as best answers go, I think Carolinekwan did a fantastic job overall. She acted as a Hillary Clinton type, just like Cyr decided at the last second to become a lobbyist for Big Corn and acted as a Kenneth Copeland type. They’re all theater kids. They all played a different role in that regard.

But I think Carolinekwan had some really powerful moments: when she said, “We’re going to break the glass ceiling,” or “I am a woman.” That got a huge round of applause.

Complex: Yes, and the line “Mother Earth” was a great answer.

P.S.: Yes. Overall fantastic stuff.

Complex: I think it’s great. So you raised about $50,000, right? I know when we spoke you said you donated to Doctors Without Borders. Is that still one of them?

P.S.: That was the charity I chose, but we raised money for Doctors Without Borders, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, No Kid Hungry, and Make-A-Wish America. Those were the charities.

Complex: You often work with Doctors Without Borders. Is this one of your favorite organizations or just an old acquaintance, or is there something special about their mission statement?

P.S.: The reason I chose Doctors Without Borders is because I cover a lot of the ongoing atrocities in the Middle East and Doctors Without Borders is of course active there, so I think it’s a very solid charity that is widely recognized by Western powers. If I don’t want to have any problems choosing the type of charity I want to work with, I think this is probably one of the best charities to work with.

I’ll tell you this much. I don’t want to name any names or brands here, but if you raise funds directly for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund or any other Palestinian charity, some brands or larger companies have a problem with it, which is shocking, but actually not that shocking. (Anyway) I think that Doctors Without Borders is a way to overcome this problem, and it’s a good thing anyway. And it’s going to go there anyway.

Complex: Right. And Doctors Without Borders definitely needs these resources. So I think that this is really important and effective. Yes, good thing. I think maybe a few more questions for you, because I don’t want to take up too much of your time. We need to talk about the last moment, DebateLords. The cake.

P.S.: Yes, I was inseminated pretty heavily.

Complex: Several times.

P.S.: I did. I loved it. It was a real bukkake situation. It was messed up. I had my Yohji Yamamoto pants from my archive that I had saved up in Japan, and they’re not easy to find. And everyone else was already wearing, not their real clothes. They were wearing what their closet gave them. So they had a kind of carelessness about how they were throwing these things away; nothing could happen to their favorite pieces. And they thought, we’re going to mess this shit up.

So I brought my own clothes. Luckily, at least I didn’t have my jacket on, so I had to rush (those pants) to the dry cleaners. I also had to get all my jewelry cleaned. It was crazy. I was so sticky afterward, but I’ve been splattered with cake before.

Complex: So you’re used to being beaten up?

P.S.: Yes, but it was absolutely insane. It was the worst cake party I’ve ever been to. When I tell you I could hardly move because I was so sticky, I mean it. My arms were stuck.

Complex: Literally like a robot trying to walk. Did you even get to taste the cream?

P.S.: I think it was just cream.

Complex: I think this is my last question to you: Who is the biggest streamer right now besides HasanAbi?

P.S.: I have to say, IShowSpeed. Speed is absolutely amazing. I mean, he had an Indonesian stream that had a million concurrent live viewers. He does a phenomenal job. I think he’s America’s greatest cultural ambassador. He’s like the Zoomer Anthony Bourdain. There’s tons of praise for him. I really appreciate everything he’s done. I appreciate his personal journey, his own development, and I hope he continues to be a compassionate and kind person. I really respect that.

He’s been famous from a very young age for almost his entire life. And he’s gotten an insane amount of attention since he was 14, 15, which is crazy. I don’t know what that does to one’s development, but in his case, it seems to have enhanced his worldview. He’s such a huge content creator who’s so influential and so famous among Gen Alpha and Gen Z. He’s openly pro-Palestinian and, as far as I can tell, not transphobic. Those are things that I think are unfortunately not very commonplace in the media. And when I see that, I don’t take it for granted. I always appreciate that. But beyond that, he’s a very entertaining character.

And what was that? Who was that famous director who said that the real cinema is now made by Kai Cenat and IShowSpeed? He’s right.

Complex: Right, was that Martin Scorsese?

P.S.: No, no, it wasn’t Martin Scorsese. Harmony Korine.

Complex: Oh, yes, that’s right. Sure. Okay, last question: What’s the fit like today?

Hasan "HasanAbi" Piker poses in his hotel room.

Image via Complex (Screenshot, HasanAbi)

P.S.: I’m wearing my Rick Owens x Dr. Martens collaboration. They were at retail. I think they look way better than anything Rick Owens has released in terms of shoes, and they were $300. So that’s crazy.

Complex: This is a bargain.

P.S.: Yes! I have the JW Anderson parachute pants. I love them. I wear them all the time. People like to make fun of me. But this is the only bag big enough to hold my Steam Deck when I travel.

Complex: No, they have a good shape, a good color and a good fit.

P.S.: And up top I just have my own merch. It says “Turmoil Distribution.” It’s one of the last runs we did for Ideologie and that’s it.

Complex: Sick. I love it. So where can people find you? I mean, sure, Twitch, of course, right?

P.S.: Yes, Twitch.tv/hasanabi. On Twitter I’m hasanthehun and everywhere else I’m hasandpiker.

Complex: Well, Hasan HasanAbi Piker, thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

P.S.: Thank you for the interview.

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