Ned Luke, who voices Michael De Santa in Rockstar’s wildly popular Grand Theft Auto 5, was swatted while livestreaming on Thanksgiving day. This is the sixth time the actor has experienced this type of harassment.
“Everyone is fine, thanks for your concern,” the voice actor tweeted on Friday. “This is the SIXTH time we have been swatted, but points for originality, this time they sent the fire department. There is nothing cute or clever or funny about this.”
Luke frequently livestreams his gameplay, and was in the middle of a special GTA livestream when he received a call apparently warning him of what was to come. Luke rose from his chair, telling viewers “I gotta go,” before ending the stream. But after six attempts to disrupt his life (and potentially endanger his safety), the voice actor has confirmed that law enforcement is now looking into the culprit.
“…in a way I feel sorry for the individual or group of individuals pulling these pranks,” Luke said in a follow-up tweet. “That said, the authorities are on the trail, and have some significant evidence in hand that hopefully will lead to this paste-eating clown’s mom’s basement.”
Luke has been livestreaming his GTA 5 gameplay in recent days in honor of the game’s 10th anniversary. As for the motive of the crime, Luke has some theories.
“I assume the intention is to shut me down, harass me, and put me ill at ease,” he mused on Twitter. “Guess what? It ain’t f***ing working. I’m not afraid. I’m not losing sleep. And I sure as hell am not going to stop doing my thing. That thing right now is my 10th anniversary playthrough. That will absolutely continue to completion, and beyond.”
Luke brought his comments to a close by defending GTA publisher Rockstar Games, as some fans had suggested Rockstar’s choice to not mask player IP addresses could have been the cause of the incident.
“My private information was NOT attained from my livestream or from GTA Online,” Luke explained. “It was leaked years ago by someone who did a routine search on the internet and thought it would be cute to put it out there. Rockstar Games is NOT to blame.”
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
