German Twitch gamer Marcel Eris, also known as MontanaBlack. Photo: Screenshot.

One of the most popular content creators on the video live streaming platform Twitch came under fire this week for promoting a non-fungible token (NFT) with artwork that featured a Nazi swastika armband.

German streamer MontanaBlack, whose real name is Marcel Eris, boasts 4.3 million followers on Twitch and 1.1 million on Twitter. On Tuesday, he led an NFT giveaway on Twitter in collaboration with the Kongdo Club, a creator of the cryptocurrency-based digital assets that are bought and sold like works of art.

One of the prized NFTs featured an avatar of a monkey wearing an armband with a swastika. Shortly after uploading the post, the hashtag “#Monte” began trending on Twitter as social media users expressed dismay and outrage, according to the German-language online outlet Watson.

MontanaBlack, who in 2019 was ranked as Twitch’s most subscribed channel, has since deleted the Twitter post, while Kongdo Club apologized for the artwork on Tuesday.

“To clarify the swastika on our art, we had no intention of releasing this with any hate speech,” Kongdo Club said. “It has been removed from all art and we deeply apologize for this confusion. We at the team want to make sure everyone feels comfortable. All depiction of this has been removed permanent.” The company added that MontanaBlack “had no involvement in the art — he was paid to promote the project and there is no affiliation with the art creation.”

MontanaBlack, who is also a YouTube star in his native country, addressed the controversy during a Twitch livestream on Tuesday night — saying that if it was up to him he would not have taken down the Twitter post, and appearing to compare the content’s removal to Nazi-era policies.

“Personally, I probably wouldn’t have deleted it, it’s also part of history,” he said. “Just because there’s a swastika somewhere doesn’t mean everyone salutes and stands at attention and greets Adolf [Hitler]. Unfortunately, all this Nazi s**t is also part of what what happened then [in the Nazi period].”

When one of his Twitter followers suggested an NFT featuring a portrait of Hitler, MontanaBlack responded, “I see potential.”