Ali ‘Gross Gore’ Larsen is one of UK League of Legends most infamous streamers, having been banned multiple times on Twitch, been involved in all kinds of drama and faced accusations over the years.
After laying relatively low since Gross Gore’s permanent Twitch ban in 2021, he now has a new chance for a fresh start on alternative streaming platform Kick.com. As of this week he’s promised to stream on there every day playing League of Legends – a game in which he recently reached the rank of Grandmaster for the first time. Is 2024 a comeback year for him, or will another twist of fate be on the cards? Dom Sacco asks in this extensive interview.
Tell us about returning to streaming every day on the Kick.com Gross Gore channel. What is your goal?
I’ll be streaming League of Legends for six to eight hours a day. My streams will be family friendly. I will swear, I get days where I chill, where I’m quiet, where I’m hyped, but I won’t be a degenerate.
My goal in streaming is to become the most respected and well-known EU West player. That’s my goal for this year and the rest of my life. I don’t want the fame or the money, I’d rather have 100 viewers that love me than 10,000 who just know I’m Gross Gore.
There may be cooking streams, but I want to focus on League of Legends.
When I return to Kick, I believe I’ll have 100 viewers for a long time. Yes! I’m happy with that. I can make £10 now and then and show the world my gameplay, I’m blessed, I haven’t had anything [for a while] and I’ll be doing something with my life, rather than nothing. I want my own income, so I can help my daughter, so we’ll see what happens.
Will 2024 be a comeback year for Gross Gore?
I don’t know. I’ll be on Kick.com/GrossGore. My partner and I make a great living [with our OnlyFans content], it’s fantastic, it pays the bills.
I’ve always been a streamer and as I’ve got to 31 and I’ve looked at what I love doing, I’ve realised I love League of Legends. I love it so much. I love Twisted Fate. I’ve had Riot employees tweeting at me and messaging me saying they love me. And I love that.
Will it be a comeback year? Will we get five minutes of fame again? Who knows. Who cares. I’ll keep doing it. But if it doesn’t happen, I don’t really care. I’ll still be doing it, no matter what, I’ll be streaming for six to eight hours a day. League of Legends, full-time. I’m addicted to the game like crazy.
Even if I have 100 viewers, 10 viewers, 0 viewers, I’ll still be there with the stream on.
I’m not doing this for the money either. Swimming pools and cars aren’t coming with you when you die, but the foundations you build of the connections you make last forever, and that makes you sleep better at night, not the Ferraris. I’m not buying any other cars, we have the Jag and the Supra and that’s it.
I’m more focused than ever in my life. I don’t drink anymore, the age is catching up to me.
And with Riot, I like them, I know they’ve put me out through the dirt a few times, but I think they don’t understand me. I’ve had Riot staff messaging me saying they like me.
“My goal in streaming is to become the most respected and well-known EU West player. That’s my goal for this year and the rest of my life. I don’t want the fame or the money, I’d rather have 100 viewers that love me than 10,000 who just know I’m Gross Gore.”
Gross Gore
In 2016 you told me you’re ‘leaving drama behind’. That didn’t happen. Why?
I’ve always been my own one-man band and I didn’t learn to control my emotions growing up, so if there’s drama, I react to it in a bad way. Now I’ve realised that.
When I get popular and get the grind in, people like to bring up drama because it’s fun, everyone likes to see a downfall and everyone likes to see a comeback.
So drama lands on my doorstep, but life is great, it’s been lovely living in peace to be honest.
[On his address being leaked and him being sent takeaways, snakes and escorts by viewers hoping to troll him, and him reacting to it] That’s not me anymore, I stopped reacting to the takeaways being sent to my door by viewers, I’m not doing that content anymore. I used to entice it but I don’t find it funny anymore. You’re not just hurting me, you’re hurting other people.
I’ve had kids turning up at my door because someone told them I wanted to buy their toys from Facebook Marketplace, I’ve had men turn up at my door from Grindr thinking I’ve been flirting with them, but it’s not me.
I’d like to think [Gross Gore troll group] The Plan disappear.
I’m going to be standing up to harassers more and fighting fire with fire. I was too scared [by these extreme viewer threats] about something happening. Now if anyone tries to cancel me, I’ve now got a legal team in place.
You finally reached the rank of Grandmaster in League of Legends recently. What are your ambitions next?
I’ve reached another level. 100%. Any League streamer reading this, any League player, watch out.
I play against Challengers daily now, I keep my head down, I outplay them, sometimes they outplay me. It’s all about understanding the game.
I’ve always been insane at Twisted Fate, he’s my go-to champion, I want Riot to nerf him as he has a high pick and ban rate. But I’m also learning Swain and other champions.
A coach told me last September I was playing wrong, that I understand TF but it’s my gameplay [that was the problem]. I recently was Grandmaster, fell to Master, went back up again. The Diamond police won’t be coming for me anymore, those days are over.
Challenger is next, then after that it’s Rank 1.
I’ll be rank 1 EU West before I die. Guaranteed. I promise you. Mark my words. Write that down.
I’ll hit Challenger, then I’ll go right past that. I’ll get my head down, streaming eight hours a day, every day.
So, what changed? I learnt the game.
You mentioned having a legal team in place. You also have a security team too now, right?
Yes. We will hire a security team to stay on my premises during my streaming hours, because I can’t let one or two people take away from the tens, hundreds or thousands of viewers I may have, and stop me from doing what I’m gonna do.
And if anyone dares to say anything stupid or tries to cancel me, I’ve now got a legal team. We’re not getting our five minutes of fame taken away this time. They will take it back and apologise or I’ll take them to court. And if someone gets penalised, it’ll send a message to everyone else.
Tell us about your Discord tournaments, your casting plans and hopes with Riot Games.
We did a tournament on my Discord a few months ago, it was great, so well done and big. The turnout was amazing. I had a few people saying it could go to Riot and I could commentate it, cos I love commentating League of Legends. I’m trying to learn all the champion abilities by their names. [Proceeds to name Lee Sin’s Q ‘Resonating Strike’ incorrectly as ‘Decimating Strike’]… oh fuck, it’s slipped my tongue now.
Anyway, I absolutely love casting and I can see myself becoming a caster. I visualize myself working with Riot Games one day as a shoutcaster. I’d work on any broadcast [including the LEC]. I’ve had Riot employees saying they love me. I’ll keep my head down.
“Will it be a comeback year for me? Will we get five minutes of fame again? Who knows. Who cares. I’ll still be doing it, no matter what, I’ll be streaming for six to eight hours a day. League of Legends, full-time. I’ll be rank 1 EU West before I die. Guaranteed.”
Gross Gore
You were banned by Twitch in 2021 for ‘adult sexual exploitation’ and received accusations of harassment. How do you respond to all that now, three years later?
I’ve been Gross Gore since I was 13, I’m now 31. I love my parents but I was brought up to be too open, and honestly that’s bad parenting because look where it’s led me, I’ve just been an idiot.
I used to say controversial things for clout that I didn’t mean. The one I hate the most is the rant video I did walking through Canterbury bragging I slept with a 16-year-old as a 21-year-old. It was a dumb thing to say.
I’ve been an absolute degenerate in my life. I’ve said stupid things for clout and views. My behaviour at Runefest was stupid. Have I ever done anything illegal? Definitely not. Have I sexually assaulted anyone? 100% not. Do I have a criminal record? No. I’ve never been to court and I never will. Have I been a creep to women? That’s another ballpark, I’m a ‘90s child, I was flirty [in my teens and 20s], but some people now think that’s sexual assault or harassing them, it’s an age generation gap.
Right now I have a free conscience, I have a beautiful woman I plan to marry, my viewers love me right now, everything is great, I sleep well at night, I know deep in my heart and only God can judge me (I’m not religious though), but I know I’m a good person and I’m going to a good place the day I die. I have no skeletons in my closet. And there are worse streamers out there.
And I do feel like cancel culture has now slowed down. My mistake was I was told to apologise by some people, and I, like an idiot, did what they told me to do and I said sorry.
How does that make me look? Guilty. So, streamers out there who aren’t guilty need to be careful. You have a better chance of standing your ground rather than going into defense mode and getting cancelled.
Now, Safi is the best manager I’ve had. I’m in the vehicle and she’s the one driving it. She’s a star and she’s got me in the position where I am now. I’ve been too nice in the past to people and I’ve let them in too much.
[On Kaozbender’s campaign to get Gross Gore banned on Twitch and more] I believe everything happens for a reason. I want Kaoz to do well despite what he did. He did a social engineering masterclass, to convince and scare people to get his own way. He emailed Streamlabs, who banned me after he wrote them a formal letter saying I’m a known paedophile, groomer and rapist, then he went to Streamelements. Bear in mind these platforms had never banned a streamer until me. He’s a life ruiner, he also ruined my friendship with [my old best friend] Ryan.
I get people emailing me saying they have dirt on Kaozbender but I say I’m not interested, I don’t believe in revenge and I’ve found happiness in my life.
You can follow Gross Gore on Kick, Twitter, Discord, YouTube and Shoutout1
Right of reply: Ryan and Kaozbender respond to Ali’s comments
Ryan Nettleship, who is now an online personal trainer, told Esports News UK: “The doxxing did happen, but only the once. It was annoying at the time, but nothing else came of it, and it was a one-off.
“I received regular hate over social media from a couple of people, and took measures to try and distance myself from livestreams and social media photos etc, in the hopes that those haters would move on to someone else they could direct their hate towards, which worked well. Although, at the time, this may have come off that I was distancing myself from Ali, which has led to his thought process of the friendship ending.
“All that being said, I wish Ali all the best and have no hate towards him, we simply went different paths in life.”
Kaozbender, who runs the Kaoz OSRS YouTube channel with 70,000+ subscribers, sent Esports News UK the following: “Hello everyone, Kaozbender here. I made a full statement regarding Gross Gore’s slander towards me, but would like to quickly clarify two points. Most importantly, I was not the one to create or spread pictures of Ryan with Nazi tattoos, nor was I the one to find his parents’ information and contact their employers.
“Also, I wasn’t the one to “contact someone in his area” to go look for him when his general location was revealed through Snapchat. In his position, you must have someone to blame for your downfall. And although I was the one to create the Pastebin, it’s just silly to turn me into the main culprit when he knows he had multiple people against him. I’m open to any communication to continue debunking him.”
Read the full statement from Kaozbender on Gross Gore’s interview comments here
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
