HasanAbi and "Free Kaya" stream sniper controversy: What exactly happened?

Twitch political commentator Hasan Piker, also known as "HasanAbi," has gone viral on social media after taking a picture with a stream sniper who said, "Free Kaya." On December 3, 2025, HasanAbi collaborated with Lorcan Collins, an author and historian, for an IRL livestream in Ireland.

At the 45-minute mark of the broadcast, a man wearing a surgical mask and a black cap approached the streamer and asked for a picture. The person then displayed a picture of a meme from the dog shock collar controversy, CollarGate, and stated:

"I don't have my phone with me. Hey, free Kaya! Free Kaya!"

In response, the Turkish-American personality said:

"Nice to meet you, man."

Lorcan Collins shared his thoughts on the interaction:

"Jesus! I'll tell you what, the power of social media. Nuts! I'm a bit blown away that people are coming out and saying hello to you. Well, it's great, like, it's deadly. You know? Just... and you're perfectly safe here as well, by the way. Just saying."

Timestamp - 00:45:12

Asmongold says HasanAbi and "Free Kaya" stream sniper's interaction is "clip of the year"

Just Chatting streamer Zack "Asmongold" has commented on HasanAbi and "Free Kaya" stream sniper's interaction, calling it "clip of the year." He also shared his thoughts on Lorcan Collins' statement following the interaction, saying:

"This, I think, might be the clip of the year. I think this could be it. He (Lorcan Collins) doesn't know! He doesn't know! He thinks it's a good thing! Oh, my god! And he just pulls it out, too! He's got no idea. This is nuts, man. His legacy, I mean, really, if I was him, I would just think this s**t was funny at this point. Like, he needs to just laugh at it. Like, somebody comes up and says this, you've got to just laugh at it. It's f**king funny!"

HasanAbi issues a statement regarding his interaction with the "Free Kaya" stream sniper

On December 3, 2025, HasanAbi took to X to address his interaction with the "Free Kaya" stream sniper. Expressing his belief that if H3 Podcast host Ethan Klein were in the same situation, he would describe it as an "assassination attempt."

The 34-year-old added:

"if this tame but somewhat cringe interaction (where they muted the part where i say nice to meet you) if were to happen to ethan klein he'd be saying this is an antisemitic hate crime / assassination attempt for the next 8 weeks. maybe they shouldn't encourage this stuff idk🤷‍♂️"

As of this writing, Ethan Klein has not responded to Hasan's X post.

Edited by Aarnesh Shrivastava