Twitch and YouTube star Zack Hoyt, better known by his online moniker Asmongold, has revealed plans to step down from his current roles at One True King (OTK) and Starforge Systems, two companies that he co-owns. The announcement was incorporated into a lengthy apology video over some controversial statements that recently saw him banned from Twitch.

During an October 14 stream, Asmongold discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. As part of his monologue, he called Palestinians “terrible people” from “an inferior culture” that “kills people for their identity” and stands against everything the West does. “I don’t feel sorry for them, I don’t care,” he concluded. The comments sparked immense online backlash, not least because they seemingly equated Palestinian civilians to the terrorist organization that Israel is at war with.

Twitch temporarily banned Asmongold’s alt channel ZackRawrr, where the rant originated, on October 15. A day later, the streamer published a 20-minute video on YouTube in which he repeatedly apologized for his statements. About halfway into the clip, Asmongold announced he is stepping away from his current leadership positions at content creation company One True King and prebuilt gaming PC brand Starforge Systems.

Reflecting on what led to this situation, Asmongold said that he has been “devolving” over the past two years, opining that his words and actions have gradually made him a worse version of himself during this period. He substantiated that claim by noting that his friends and family have been asking him to “calm down” as of late. While he insisted that he doesn’t think he was “wrong about everything” he said over the past several years, he called some of his recent statements, including the Palestine rant, “indefensible.”