Steven Kenneth Bonnell II (born December 12, 1988), known online as Destiny, is an American live streamer and political commentator. He was among the first people to stream video games online full-time and received attention as a pioneer of the industry.[5] Since 2016, he has garnered further attention for streaming political debates with other online personalities, in which he advocates for progressivism and liberal politics.[6][7] The New York Times has described Bonnell as a liberal,[3] while Bonnell has described himself as "a very big social democrat".[7]
| Destiny | |||||||
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![](#/media/File:Steven_"Destiny"_Bonnell,_2022_(cropped).jpg) Bonnell in 2022 | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | Steven Kenneth Bonnell II December 12, 1988[1] Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. | ||||||
| Occupations |
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| Spouse |
Melina Göransson
(m. 2021; div. 2023) | ||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||
| Website | destiny | ||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||
| Channels | |||||||
| Years active | 2013–present | ||||||
| Genres | |||||||
| Subscribers |
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| Total views |
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| Associated acts | |||||||
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Twitch information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Years active | 2011–2022 | ||||||
| Genre | Politics/Gaming | ||||||
| Followers | 699,700 (before his indefinite suspension) | ||||||
TikTok information | |||||||
| Followers | 196.2 thousand (August 4, 2024) | ||||||
| Likes | 7.8 million (August 4, 2024) | ||||||
Instagram information | |||||||
| Page | |||||||
| Followers | 100 thousand (August 4, 2024) | ||||||
Last updated: August 4, 2024 | |||||||
Early life
Steven Kenneth Bonnell II was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to a Cuban-American mother and a White American father.[6] He was raised in a conservative Catholic home,[6] and he attended Creighton Preparatory School, a private Jesuit high school for boys.[7] When he was a pre-teen, his mother's home day care business collapsed, and his family's home was foreclosed.[7] A few years later his parents moved to take care of an aging relative, after which he lived with his grandmother until he was 18. During his childhood, Bonnell played Japanese role-playing games, which he says made him an adept reader.[6]
In 2007, Bonnell enrolled at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he studied music while working night shifts as a restaurant manager at a casino. Ultimately unable to juggle both his education and full-time work, Bonnell dropped out of college in 2010. Soon after, he was fired from his restaurant position, which he blamed on poor social skills such as lack of empathy.[6]
Bonnell later found work as a carpet cleaner, working 12-hour days for commission. His average pay was $3–4 an hour (equivalent to $4.2–5.6 an hour in 2023).[6][7]
Career
In 2011, Bonnell quit his job as a carpet cleaner to stream video games full-time. Streaming his Starcraft II matches on livestream.com and ustream.tv,[8] then Justin.tv (now Twitch), he was immediately financially successful.[5][7][9] In October of that year, Bonnell joined professional team Quantic Gaming and placed 4th in the 2011 MLG Global North American invitational.[10] During his years as a Starcraft II streamer, Bonnell was known for his abrasive and confrontational style, including use of "acerbic and often offensive" comments against other players for shock humor.[5]
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Starting in 2016, Bonnell has gained attention for live-streaming political debates with other internet personalities. Bonnell debated popular YouTuber Jon Jafari, better known as JonTron, on immigration and assimilation in March 2017, after Jafari tweeted in support of anti-immigration statements by Republican congressman Steve King. In his debate with Bonnell, Jafari's statements concerning race, crime, and immigration were seen as controversial by viewers, and the subsequent backlash garnered media attention.[11][12][13][14]
In November 2018, Bonnell and fellow streamer Trihex (Mychal Ramon Jefferson) premiered a political commentary collaboration, The DT Podcast. The podcast streamed its final episode in October 2019, during which Jefferson confronted Bonnell regarding statements the latter had made defending his use of offensive humor—including racial slurs—in private.[7][15]
In 2021, Bonnell debated Marxian economist Richard D. Wolff, with Bonnell defending capitalism. In that debate, Bonnell described the label of "socialism" as poorly defined, and noted a history of famine and abuses in countries like the Soviet Union and China, while Wolff responded by attempting to correct perceived misrepresentations from Bonnell of his views on socialism throughout the debate.[16] Bonnell has cited his poverty during his teenage and college-aged years as an influence on his views, and says that he prefers to argue based on empirical data rather than moral suasion.[7]
In March 2022, Bonnell was indefinitely banned from Twitch due to "hateful conduct".[17][18] Dot Esports speculates that this may have been due to Bonnell streaming with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who had previously been banned from the platform, while Bonnell speculated it was due to him expressing the view that "trans women shouldn't compete with cis women in women's athletics".[17][19][20]
In September 2023, Bonnell, alongside other political streamers such as Vaush, Emma Vigeland (co-host of The Majority Report with Sam Seder), and Keffals, interviewed U.S. Representative Ro Khanna about various topics, including the importance of youth political participation and ways to push progressive political sentiment, as well as asking questions about Khanna.[21][22][23] In March 2024, he appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast in a debate with Norman Finkelstein, historian Benny Morris, and political analyst Mouin Rabbani regarding the Israeli–Hamas conflict.[24]
Political views
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Political ideology
Bonnell identified as a libertarian in 2016 but his politics began shifting toward liberalism after an incident in which he heard another streamer call a gay person a "fucking faggot".[6][7] Bonnell has argued against certain aspects of both far-right politics and far-left politics.[6][7] Furthermore, he has promoted the idea that college campuses should have students who have diverse opinions in order to reduce polarization.[25]
In 2019, Bonnell began debating in favor of capitalism against socialists and communists.[6] Bonnell has stated that his intention is not to persuade their opponents but to persuade the audience; although he has expressed that airing his opinions often feels "like screaming into the void", he estimates he has received hundreds of emails from former members of the alt-right crediting him for their conversion to left-wing politics.[6][7] Subsequent journalistic and academic coverage of right-wing YouTube commentary has credited Bonnell as an early and effective opposition to it, particularly owing to his provocative, combative debate style which appeals to right-wing gaming audiences.[3][6]
Political violence
Bonnell was notified in September 2020 that his Twitch partnership agreement would be terminated the following month for "encouragement of violence". The termination came as a result of comments made on-stream after the Kenosha unrest shooting, in which Bonnell expressed opposition to riots at the George Floyd protests.[26] Bonnell said:[27][28]
"The rioting needs to fucking stop, and if that means like white redneck fucking militia dudes out there mowing down dipshit protesters that think that they can torch buildings at ten p.m., then at this point they have my fucking blessing, because holy shit, this fucking shit needs to stop, it needed to stop a long time ago."[28]
Bonnell later said that Kyle Rittenhouse was clearly misguided but that his frustration was with rioters who Bonnell believed would scare people into voting for Donald Trump again.[29] After the first 2024 assassination attempt of Donald Trump, Destiny stated that Trump and his supporters "reap what they sow, and I'm here to watch the harvest".[30]
Israel/Palestine
Following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Bonnell has expressed interest in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He has shown sympathy for Israel, stating, "The Palestinians are oppressed by all the Arab countries, and no country from them, which is supposed to be on 'their' side, has bothered to offer them a real solution—and yet, their anger is directed fully at Israel, and unjustifiably in my opinion."[31] Bonnell has argued against the Palestinian right of return, believing it would make peace and a two-state solution impossible.[32] In March 2024, he appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast in a debate with Norman Finkelstein, historian Benny Morris, and political analyst Mouin Rabbani regarding the Israeli–Hamas conflict.[24]
Economics
In a conversation about immigration with the YouTuber Carl Benjamin, popularly known by the pseudonym Sargon of Akkad, Bonnell expressed his general view that, because immigration lowers the cost of labor for companies hiring low-wage earners, it is good to have high levels of immigration. Furthermore, in order to fix the wealth disparity caused by both the lowered wages of low-wage earners and the heightened wages of high-wage earners, Bonnell proposed raising taxes on the wealthy and distributing their earnings to the poor.[33]
Canvassing
In 2020, Bonnell supported the general election campaign of Joe Biden.[34][non-primary source needed] Following Biden's victory, Bonnell led a canvassing campaign in support of Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the 2020–21 Georgia Senate runoffs.[35] With the help of approximately 140 volunteers mobilized from Bonnell's online audience, the campaign knocked on an estimated 17,500–20,000 doors in Columbus, Georgia, making it one of the larger campaigns of the election.[36] Bonnell led another canvassing operation in support of Mark Gudgel for the 2021 Omaha mayoral election.[37] On March 3, 2021, Gudgel officially cut ties with Bonnell over the latter's statements regarding riots at the George Floyd protests.[28][38]
In February 2024, Bonnell spearheaded canvassing efforts by political activist group Progressive Victory in Cincinnati, Ohio, to support Sherrod Brown in the Ohio US senate race.[39][40]
Personal life
Bonnell lived in Nebraska before relocating to the Los Angeles area in December 2018.[7][6] In late 2021, he moved to Miami, Florida.[41]
Bonnell has been married twice and has a son.[42] He is openly bisexual and his second marriage was an open marriage with Swedish streamer Melina Göransson.[7][43][44] Bonnell and Göransson married in December 2021.[45] They separated and filed for divorce in December 2023.[46]
References
External links
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