Kingsman265 removed from $40k Marvel Rivals event after teammate dispute

Twitch streamer Kingsman265 removed from Marvel Rivals tournament, sparked fallout, apologies and organiser regret

A dispute during a $40,000 Marvel Rivals creator tournament led to Twitch streamer Kingsman265 being removed from the event, triggering widespread debate across the streaming community and prompting the organiser to later admit the decision was wrong.

The incident occurred on January 18 during practice sessions for a Marvel Rivals tournament hosted by BasimZB. Kingsman265 urged a teammate to stop playing Black Widow and switch heroes to improve team composition. Following a heated exchange, he was removed from the team before the tournament began.

Addressing viewers shortly afterwards, Kingsman said, “Guys, I want to win the game, and I know what will work and what won’t work. I’ve played this game for thousands of hours, ok?”

He added that he needed the prize money to help pay for college tuition, stating, “I’m just here to win the tournament, I need that money, I’m f**king broke.”

The situation escalated after Kingsman uploaded a video explaining his removal, which surpassed one million views. Teammate Cece later said on stream that Kingsman was removed for making “disrespectful things” about the team and event, adding that she did not want someone “constantly going to s*it-talk us to his chat”.

Cece later apologised on social media for calling Kingsman a “loser” and said she failed to lead properly as team captain. Despite the controversy, the team finished seventh, while the winning team reportedly used the hero composition Kingsman had suggested.

In the days that followed, Kingsman returned to Twitch and saw a sharp increase in support, telling viewers he had already earned more than the potential tournament winnings. He later achieved Twitch Partner status and surpassed 110,000 followers.

The fallout continued as sponsor Infinity Mice announced it had dropped Cece, citing behaviour that “targets or disrespects other creators”.

Public exchanges between Kingsman and Cece continued on social media, with screenshots of private messages shared by both sides.

On January 21, tournament host BasimZB admitted removing Kingsman was “wrong”, saying, “I made the wrong decision in haste. I deserve what comes out of this.” He confirmed the two had since spoken and resolved the issue privately.