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Not to be confused with Poo Bear.

GrandPooBear
GrandPooBear's Twitch channel logo
Personal information
Born
David Hunt

(1985-04-11) April 11, 1985 (age 39)
Michigan, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Colorado Boulder
Occupations
SpouseGina Hunt
Children1
Websitegrandpoobear.com
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2013–present
GenreGaming
Games
Followers305 thousand
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
Subscribers323 thousand[1]
Total views187.3 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
Last updated: May 3, 2023

David Hunt (born April 11, 1985[2]), known online as GrandPooBear, is an American video game streamer, speedrunner, and creator of Kaizo Super Mario levels. A Red Bull athlete, Hunt is primarily known for playing and creating levels for Super Mario Maker.[2] He has also performed at various Games Done Quick events[3][4] and TwitchCon,[5] and has hosted his own in-person and virtual speedrunning events.[6][7]

Personal life

[edit]

David Hunt, known online as GrandPooBear,[8] grew up in Michigan and attended the University of Colorado Boulder.[9] An avid snowboarder, he was in an accident in April 2013 which left him severely injured.[10][11] While spending months in recovery, he turned to video games as a new passion to focus on, saying: "I was bored on the couch, and I decided I wanted to become really good at one video game, Super Mario Bros. 3."[2]

Hunt lives with his wife, Gina Hunt, who helps operate their streaming business.[9][12] They had their first child in January 2019.[5]

Career

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Hunt started his streaming career playing DayZ, and soon moved on to Super Mario Bros. 3 speedrunning.[11] After the 2015 release of Super Mario Maker, Hunt began learning Kaizo techniques from playing over 5,000 hours of the game, including levels created by PangaeaPanga, and created a series of video tutorials on Kaizo game mechanics with walkthroughs of his own levels.[13] He became a prominent video game streamer of Super Mario Maker 2,[14] and helped found the company Warp World, which focuses on creating software applications that help streamers.[5] He is well known for completing unique or difficult challenges, such as spending over a year clearing 1,000 expert levels in a row in Super Mario Maker 2,[15] or becoming the first person to beat Super Mario Bros. 3 with the Nintendo Power Glove.[16] As of 2020, he is a full-time game streamer.[17]

Prominent Kaizo creator BarbarousKing named his Grand Poo World series after GrandPooBear.[18] Hunt has said, "the first [Grand Poo World] changed how people make ROM hacks." Hunt was invited to become an official Red Bull Esports Athlete on December 14, 2018.[19][2]

Speedrunning events

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Hunt has also appeared at and hosted a number of speedrunning events and other video game tournaments, both in-person and virtual. He has performed speedruns of both Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Maker at various Games Done Quick events,[3][4] participated in Fall Guys tournaments at Twitch Rivals events,[20] and performed with other streamers in a recreation of the TV show Survivor in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.[21]

At Summer Games Done Quick 2018—in a speedrun race of Super Mario Bros. 3 against another streamer, Mitchflowerpower—Hunt attracted attention for accidentally causing his opponent's game to crash, forcing him to restart the game.[22] Hunt waited for his opponent to catch up as a show of sportsmanship, but the game crashed again later in the event. No prize money was at stake, but Hunt said: "I caused it. I take responsibility. I'm gonna take 5 to feel bad and be back out. Mitch deserved a better ending."

In addition to appearing at events, Hunt has also hosted his own series of in-person speedrunning events called GrandPOOBear's Speedrun Sessions.[6] These events were co-operated by Hunt's sponsor Red Bull, and in some cases were run as a component of Red Bull's own AdrenaLAN event.[23] The events focused on Super Mario-related games, and have featured other streamers and speedrunners from the community.

Hunt is featured in the 2023 documentary film Running with Speed, narrated by Summoning Salt.[24][25]

Controversies

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Deletion of Super Mario Maker levels

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During his career, Hunt has played Super Mario Maker, a game that allows players to design and publish their own video game levels. In January 2016, one of Hunt's levels named "Pile of Poo-POOgatory" was deleted from Nintendo's platform.[26] A representative from Nintendo said the level was deleted because of the word "poo" in the level title (despite the fact that the Super NES title EarthBound had a character named "Poo" in it). After appealing, the same representative called Hunt during a stream and claimed the level would be restored. A few days later, Nintendo recanted the decision, and the level remained deleted. One month later, Hunt found that Nintendo had deleted all of his levels without notice. In this case, Nintendo confirmed that Hunt's content had not been flagged for inappropriate activity such as cheating, but did not say why the content was deleted.

A similar incident occurred in 2019 with Hunt's content on Super Mario Maker 2, this time with Nintendo threatening to ban Hunt from the platform.[27][28] Hunt was not the only individual to have levels deleted in this manner, for which Nintendo has received criticism from news outlets such as Kotaku and Polygon.[29][30] Other creators such as PattyTTV spoke out in support of Hunt, but Nintendo has yet to comment on why Hunt's content was removed.[31]

Glitchcon "stream-sniping" incident

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In late 2020, Hunt participated in GlitchCon, a part of the Twitch Rivals program. While playing in a Fall Guys tournament, Twitch found that xQc, one of Hunt's teammates, engaged in "stream sniping" during the tournament, a tactic where a player watches an opposing team's stream to gain a competitive advantage using their opponent's point of view.[32] All members of xQc's team, including Hunt by association, had to return all prize money they had received, and they received both a 6-month ban from participation in Twitch Rivals and a 7-day suspension from streaming on Twitch.[33] Hunt's 7-day suspension, along with one other team member, was later reduced to only three days. Hunt publicly apologized for the incident and said: "I should have said something, instead I got swept up in playing with a group I don't normally do."[34]

TheDragonFeeney allegations

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On February 16, 2021, streamer TheDragonFeeney released a statement on Twitter accusing Hunt of emotionally manipulating, publicly belittling and sexualizing her.[35] She claims that he has been gaslighting and guilt-tripping her and others for years but that she had finally had enough. The instigating moment was, shortly after the release of Bowser's Fury, Hunt said on stream: "I am angry at Feen that she planned a game without me, because I invite her to everything that I do. I'm mad at her now." She also claims, after telling him that she felt that his actions in a game of Among Us were unfair, meta and full of "backroom deals", that "David had not actually taken responsibility for his actions, and instead turned the blame on me in a way that made me feel I was the one in the wrong, and that I was the one being a downer." She also claims that, in 2017, he made lewd comments about her in front of her and her husband, and, in 2018, he had grabbed her breast at a speedrunning event.

In Hunt's response,[36] he denied grabbing her breast, and claimed that the lewd comments she mentioned were taken out of context, "purposely manipulating to make me look like some sort of creep." In regards to her gaslighting allegations, he said: "I clearly was failing at getting my point across in any meaningful way." He says the Bowser's Fury comment was just a sarcastic joke: "I am one of those people who deal with hurt in jokes. I am someone that likes to be invited when my friends do things, and it hurts when they don't." He also emphasized to his fanbase that he doesn't want this to turn into a "choose sides" war and "make sure that my community - and I understand it is large - does not attack anyone".[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Grand POOBear". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b c d "David 'GrandPOObear' Hunt". Red Bull. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Gach, Ethan (January 14, 2017). "Speedrunners Race Their Own Hellish Creations With Super Dram World". Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Good, Owen (July 1, 2018). "Summer Games Done Quick 2018 sets another fund-raising record". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Switzer, Eric (October 7, 2019). "GrandPOOBear Interview: Twitch's Top Mario Streamer Is Just Getting Started". Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Michael, Cale (March 5, 2020). "GrandPOOBear to host special Mario Day Speedrun event". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 5, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  7. ^ Morics, Peter (August 22, 2020). "Fall Guys Invitational Tournament FallMania Offers $5,000 Prize Pool". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  8. ^ Orland, Kyle (July 16, 2019). "Nintendo deletes popular Mario Maker 2 level for unexplained reasons". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Donahue, Bill (April 24, 2019). "Ahead of the Game: GrandPOObear". Red Bull. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  10. ^ @GrandPooBear (April 6, 2018). "5 years ago I started the hardest journey of my life after being hit by an out of control skier. Eventually this led me to Twitch. It's amazing how the worst moments in your life can lead to some of the best. I am finally back at my pre accident weight and feeling healthy!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 25, 2020 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b Haeems, Neil (October 8, 2020). "Streamer GrandPooBear talks speedrunning community, FallMania 4". Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  12. ^ Alexander, Julie (August 21, 2018). "Twitch streamers are divided on Ninja's choice not to stream with women". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  13. ^ Klepek, Patrick (July 11, 2019). "'Mario Maker' Expert Creates Easy Way to Learn Game's Secret Kaizo Tricks". Vice. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  14. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (July 16, 2019). "Nintendo deletes level from top Mario Maker 2 player for mysterious reasons". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  15. ^ Diaz, Ana (February 11, 2021). "Speedrunner clears 1,000 expert Mario Maker levels without a game over". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  16. ^ Mejia, Ozzie (July 20, 2018). "Shacknews Close-Up: GrandPOObear and the Power Glove". Shacknews. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  17. ^ Alexander, Julia (August 21, 2018). "Twitch streamers are divided on Ninja's choice not to stream with women". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  18. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (March 12, 2019). "The hardest Mario game of the year is unlike anything you've seen before". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  19. ^ @GrandPooBear (December 14, 2018). "Yo, I'm so excited to announce that I have joined the @redbullesports family! It's so huge for me and the entire speedrunning community. Just so stoked!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 13, 2020 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Norton, Brad (August 28, 2020). "Team Castro wins $50,000 Fall Guys Twitch Rivals: Final placements". Dexerto. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  21. ^ Beresford, Trillby (May 1, 2020). "'Animal Crossing' Meets 'Survivor' in This Twitch Mash-Up Game Event". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  22. ^ Alexandra, Heather (June 29, 2018). "Amazing Mario 3 Speedrun Is Full Of Setbacks And Sportsmanship". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  23. ^ "Red Bull's massive gaming competition returns to Toronto December 2020". Daily Hive. November 5, 2019. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Lope, Patrick; Mross, Nicholas (January 6, 2023), Running with Speed (Documentary), Allan Alvarez, Torje Amundsen, Devin Blair, Wild Arrow Media, retrieved April 4, 2024
  25. ^ Myers, Andy. "Running With Speed - Speedrunning Documentary 2023 with Summoning Salt - Official Site". Good Deed Entertainment. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  26. ^ Klepek, Patrick (March 21, 2016). "Nintendo Deletes Every Stage By Prominent Mario Maker Speedrunner". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  27. ^ Klepek, Patrick (July 16, 2019). "Nintendo Deleted a Very Popular 'Mario Maker 2' Stage Without Explanation". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  28. ^ Gach, Ethan (July 16, 2019). "Déjà Poo: Nintendo Deletes Another Mario Maker Level By Popular Speedrunner". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  29. ^ Klepek, Patrick (January 15, 2016). "Nintendo Is Deleting People's Mario Maker Stages Without Telling Them Why". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  30. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (July 16, 2019). "Nintendo deletes level from top Mario Maker 2 player for mysterious reasons". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  31. ^ Allen, Eric Van (July 16, 2019). "Popular Super Mario Maker Creator Says Inexplicable Removal Of His Level Feels Like A Gut Punch". USgamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  32. ^ Skopp, Sam (November 18, 2020). "The Real Reason xQc Was Banned - SVG". SVG.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  33. ^ Lopez, Jalen (November 22, 2020). "Twitch shortens Mendo's ban following xQc stream-sniping incident". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  34. ^ Steiner, Dustin (November 19, 2020). "xQc and GrandPooBear Twitch Suspended Over Stream Sniping Incident". Esports Talk. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  35. ^ @thedragonfeeney (February 16, 2021). "'This is my experience with David Hunt'" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. ^ @GrandPOOBear (February 17, 2021). "'In regards to Feens post'" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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