Meet the 15-year-old prankster who crashed the Game Awards

Thursday’s broadcast of The Game Awards ended in mass confusion, thanks to an incomprehensible stunt performed by a 15-year-old named Matan Even. When reached by phone on Friday (and with his parents’ permission), Even refused to break character and dodged questions about everything from his political leanings to the circumstances of his removal from the Game Awards stage. This reporter, however, can confirm that Matan Even, despite his original intention, is not as creative.

Even’s stunt began when FromSoftware’s Elden Ring developers left their seats to accept their award for 2022’s Game of the Year. As they approached the stage, viewers saw a small boy with a little face standing behind them. Even told Polygon that he purchased a regular show ticket and simply moved up from the audience to join the winners.

As soon as the developers ended their remarks, Even grabbed the mic and let loose a quick bit of absurdist nonsense: “I think I want to nominate this award to my Reform Orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton.” Security immediately escorted Even offstage, but by then, he had already claimed his 15 seconds of fame.

But for what purpose? His statement was an anti-Semitic dog whistle. Or was it simply a wasted opportunity to tell millions of viewers something else that mattered – or even something that might be funny to anyone other than six of his friends on Discord?

Talking to Polygon, Even repeatedly insisted that he had taken to the stage solely to promote the former president (and, according to Even’s schtick, secret rabbi) Bill Clinton. The Game Awards’ host Geoff Keighley tweetedLast night, Even was taken offstage and the interloper, a young boy, had been detained. The Los Angeles Police Department told Polygon that although a police report was taken, “there is no arrest related to this incident.” Even declined to comment on the specifics of his detention, admitting only to having been escorted offstage by security guards.

Even’s public stunts started three years ago in the name of a far more sympathetic activist cause: China’s crackdown on Hong Kong. Even gained some viral popularity by backing this cause, which has united Americans from both sides of the political spectrum. Even took part in public speaking during the autumn of 2019. pro-Hong Kong demonstrations at BlizzConas well as at an NBA basketball game. Owen Shroyer hosted InfoWars in the far-right and conspiracy-spreading format. He interviewed Even in 2019 & 2020.

Even’s accent is not as thick and unidentified in these interviews as it was during the Polygon phone interview.

When asked about his former views on Hong Kong, Even told Polygon: “I’m still a supporter of the ongoing movement. It has not been something I’ve discussed in recent years. However, it is still something I support. It was just that I didn’t feel yesterday was the best day for me to revisit it. And, in particular, I was not expecting any Hong Kong-based movement to attend this event. But I was expecting – I thought there was an extremely high chance that Bill Clinton himself would get a personal invite, he would be sitting in the front row, maybe be nominated for at least as many awards as there are. And the fact that he was not even nominated, not won any of them – I was completely devastated.”

Even described himself as Jewish and repeatedly insisted that his statement about Bill Clinton was “not anti-Semitic” or associated with “far-right” politics. (Despite wearing a pair of Yeezy sneakers at last night’s event, Even told Polygon he believes Kanye West’s political views are “not good.”) Also, although Reform Jews and Orthodox Jews are distinct groups, and “Reform Orthodox” is not a Etwas, Even claimed he nonetheless saw Bill Clinton as embodying a “Reform Orthodox” ideology: “At the end of the day, [Reform and Orthodox]They are both Jewish. I feel that segregating one group from another would be antisemitic. So I thought that calling Bill Clinton a Reform Orthodox rabbi would include all types of Jews out there.”

Even maintained that Bill Clinton was the best candidate for his future. Even though he is too young to register for voting, Clinton can’t run again as a president after having served two terms between 1992 and 2000. “I just think that the best man, one of the best people in the world, who’s spreading very good Jewish values to Jews all over the world, in different countries, is Bill Clinton,” Even said. “And I think that, you know, we can look at him as somebody who should be running every government in the world.”

When we reached the end, it was an interview that would have been secondhand embarrassing even for Sacha Cohen (Borat), to be exact. I then began to ask Even questions about his positions on various political issues.

What is gay marriage? Even says he’s cool with it.

The United States immigration policy? “I think it depends on the person. You know, there’s a lot of different types of immigration for different types of people from different types of countries. And, you know, I’m not claiming to be somebody who is extremely knowledgeable. The truth is, my political views may differ from yours. But I think if we want to look at somebody who is very knowledgeable on politics, I think we should look at —”

At this point, we answered in unison: “Bill Clinton.” Naturally.

Even was unsure if his words might have any impact on others, given the number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories online. Even denied any regrets each time I asked. Did he wish he’d said something different, championed some other cause, or even said something that other people might actually understand? Even denied that. He just hoped that more people would Google Bill Clinton information after the Game Awards.

You might be wondering why I wrote this interview. Well, because I think it actually does matter what you put out into the public, when you have others’ eyes on you, and I have that here at Polygon. At some point in the past, Matan Even may have thought this too, when he was making YouTube videos about police brutality in Hong Kong – or perhaps he was always doing it for the clout, and the only reason he abandoned pro-Hong Kong activism in favor of this new bullshit is that he never really had any cause other than his own desire for attention.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want attention, to want to be heard and loved and admired. I wanted that at age 15, and I’ll admit I still want it now. But the difference is that I actually give a shit about saying something that matters – or at least something clever. And this wasn’t that.

The statement was not only a big waste of time but could also lead to discrimination against Matan even himself. I can only hope that someday, Even looks back on this moment and feels as embarrassed for himself as I felt on our phone call today, not only for wasting his time in the spotlight, but also, for the incredibly cringeworthy levels of self-owning he displayed — not just on stage, but in what appears to be a full day of phone calls with journalists baffled by an uncreative prank.