Doja Cat was left surprised after discovering she couldn’t completely turn off ads for viewers during a recent livestream on Twitch — a moment that quickly went viral and sparked conversation among fans about the platform’s advertising rules.
Like many artists branching into gaming and streaming, the Grammy-winning rapper has built a strong presence on Twitch in recent weeks. After returning to the platform in February, Doja Cat rapidly amassed more than 500,000 followers, drawing thousands of viewers to her casual streams that blend gameplay, conversation and occasional singing.
During a March 1 broadcast, the “Paint the Town Red” rapper was playing Fortnite when viewers in the chat began complaining about ads interrupting the stream.
“I’ll get rid of ads right now,” Doja Cat told viewers, attempting to accommodate them. But as she soon discovered, removing them entirely wasn’t an option.
While navigating her settings live on stream, the rapper asked viewers for help figuring out how to disable ads.
“Does anybody know how to get rid of ads?” she asked. “Do I go to subscriptions or social badge or some sh*t like that?”
Chat users quickly informed her that because she is a Twitch Partner, ads cannot be completely turned off. The program allows creators to monetize their streams through subscriptions, donations and advertising, but it also requires participating creators to run scheduled ads as part of the platform’s revenue-sharing system.
“What the f**k does that mean?” Doja Cat responded in confusion after learning about the restriction. “Oh, you can’t get rid of them? You can make it one ad per hour?”
After experimenting with the dashboard settings for several minutes, the rapper managed to reduce the ad frequency to the lowest available option — roughly one ad per hour — before continuing the stream.
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Under Twitch’s monetization structure, creators who join the Partner program earn revenue from subscriptions, donations and advertising. The platform’s ad system — introduced in expanded form around 2023 — requires Partners to run scheduled advertisements in order to participate in ad revenue sharing.
While streamers can adjust how frequently ads appear, the system does not allow monetized creators to remove them entirely. Subscribers, however, often receive ad-free viewing as part of their paid membership perks.
The policy has long been a point of frustration among both creators and audiences who say frequent ads can disrupt live content.
Clips of Doja Cat’s reaction spread rapidly across social media in the days following the stream, prompting widespread discussion about advertising policies on livestreaming platforms.
Many viewers praised the singer for attempting to reduce ads for her audience, calling the move “viewer-first.” Others used the moment to criticize Twitch’s ad-heavy structure, arguing that the platform prioritizes advertising revenue over creator flexibility.
The stream is part of Doja Cat’s recent return to Twitch, where she has been increasingly active in early 2026. Since resuming streaming, the artist has quickly built a large audience on the platform, with her channel attracting hundreds of thousands of followers and thousands of concurrent viewers during broadcasts.
Her Fortnite stream blended gameplay, casual conversation and spontaneous singing moments — a mix that helped propel clips from the session across social media feeds.
Though Doja Cat hasn’t publicly commented further on the ad policy since the broadcast, the viral moment has reignited conversation about how streaming platforms balance monetization with the viewing experience.
