Twitch Issues Statement After Emiru Assault At TwitchCon
There has been a of lot unease among a number of female creators attending TwitchCon, with some attending reluctantly or skipping it altogether. And now, on day one, there has been a scary incident with a high-profile streamer and cosplayer, Emiru.
In a video capturing the incident, a tall man approaches Emiru rapidly out of nowhere and hugs/grabs her before security shoves him away. He’s then seen holding something, which appears to be a pen.
The incident has drawn a statement from Twitch itself, which said the following:
“The safety and security of all those attending TwitchCon is our highest priority. The behavior displayed by the individual involved in the incident yesterday involving a high profile streamer was completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting.
“In line with existing TwitchCon security protocols, law enforcement and event security were on site and responded to the incident. We immediately blocked this individual from returning to the TwitchCon premises, and they are banned indefinitely from Twitch, both online and in-person events. We are coordinating with the impacted creator’s team and, per our standard protocols, continue to cooperate with any law enforcement investigations.
“We have increased security at the Meet & Greet attendee check-in point and will have additional security personnel surrounding participating streamers. If you’ve RSVPed for a Meet & Greet, please note that we are unable to accommodate +1s for the remainder of the event.
“Twitch has zero tolerance for harassment or acts that inhibit the safety and security of our community.
“It’s really important to us that our creators enjoy their experience at TwitchCon and feel safe. We regret that their experience was disrupted by this horrible incident.”
It’s been confirmed that the person was removed from the venue, and indefinitely banned from Twitch itself. The person has not been publicly identified, but this is the internet, so I imagine that will not be the case for long.
Complicating this is Emiru telling a story about how on a different occasion two years ago, Emiru’s personal security guard had briefly held a man following her around the convention, but because he touched anyone, he was permanently banned from TwitchCon. The security guard was banned, to be clear, so he was not with Emiru during this incident.
This has sparked outrage directed at Twitch and many are not pleased with the statement it has given, which has united all manner of creators and fans. There’s a separate conversation that’s been true for years about parasocial relationships between creators and their viewers, which is most often the case with female streamers and male fans. We don’t know exactly what the situation was here, but the “intensely forced hug” may be a clue.
“If Twitch can’t even moderate their own website, why do you think they can moderate an IRL event?” a streamer said even before the show. While Twitch’s statement was rushed to release hours after the incident, there will have to be a serious reckoning about the security of the TwitchCon. Larger problems of parasocial fans are a much more complicated problem to fix, if that’s even possible in the age of creators.
hello everyone, I am okay and thank you for all of the kind messages, sorry I cannot respond to them all
Yesterday, the man who assaulted me was allowed to cross multiple barriers at twitchcon and even in front of another creators meet and greet to grab me and my face and try to kiss me. Fortunately he wasn't able to, but a lot of people have pointed out it could have been a lot worse!
I'm obviously shaken up by what happened and it's not the first time I've dealt with something like this, but to tell you honestly, I am a lot more hurt and upset by how Twitch handled it during and after the fact.
Like I said, I don't understand how he was allowed to make it to me in the first place. The security in the clip who reacts is my own security (it's true my favorite and usual security guard was banned for holding a stalkers arm to bring him to police, at a past Twitchcon)
However, there were at least 3 or 4 other Twitchcon security staff in the area who did not react and let the guy walk away, as you can see in the clip since they don't even appear in the frame LOL
The woman who is walking me away is my own personal manager, and behind the booth, the only two people who were checking on me and comforting me were her and my friend. None of the Twitchcon staff came to ask what happened or if I was okay.
My friend who was present told me Twitch security were also behind the booth afterwards joking about how they didn't even see what happened and immediately laughing and moving on to talking about something else.
So if no one was checking if I was okay or if I needed anything and they let the guy run away initially, I have no idea what anyone hired to keep the event safe was doing LOL
In Twitch's statement they said that the guy was immediately caught and detained, I'm sorry but that is a blatant lie. He was allowed to walk away from my meet and greet and I didn't hear he was caught until hours after he attacked me, and it felt like this only happened because of my manager pressing for it, not because Twitchcon staff present thought it was a big deal.
I have a lot more I want to say but I will say it on stream later today instead of writing a book on here.Thank you guys again, sorry you all had to see that. This is definitely my last Twitchcon, and it saddens me to say as a 10 year off and on attendee of Twitchcon, I think other creators should seriously consider not attending in the future. I did not feel cared for or protected, even bringing my own security and staff. I can't imagine how creators without those options would feel.
Stay safe y'all, everything is going to be okay
Link Archive
Yesterday, the man who assaulted me was allowed to cross multiple barriers at twitchcon and even in front of another creators meet and greet to grab me and my face and try to kiss me. Fortunately he wasn't able to, but a lot of people have pointed out it could have been a lot worse!
I'm obviously shaken up by what happened and it's not the first time I've dealt with something like this, but to tell you honestly, I am a lot more hurt and upset by how Twitch handled it during and after the fact.
Like I said, I don't understand how he was allowed to make it to me in the first place. The security in the clip who reacts is my own security (it's true my favorite and usual security guard was banned for holding a stalkers arm to bring him to police, at a past Twitchcon)
However, there were at least 3 or 4 other Twitchcon security staff in the area who did not react and let the guy walk away, as you can see in the clip since they don't even appear in the frame LOL
The woman who is walking me away is my own personal manager, and behind the booth, the only two people who were checking on me and comforting me were her and my friend. None of the Twitchcon staff came to ask what happened or if I was okay.
My friend who was present told me Twitch security were also behind the booth afterwards joking about how they didn't even see what happened and immediately laughing and moving on to talking about something else.
So if no one was checking if I was okay or if I needed anything and they let the guy run away initially, I have no idea what anyone hired to keep the event safe was doing LOL
In Twitch's statement they said that the guy was immediately caught and detained, I'm sorry but that is a blatant lie. He was allowed to walk away from my meet and greet and I didn't hear he was caught until hours after he attacked me, and it felt like this only happened because of my manager pressing for it, not because Twitchcon staff present thought it was a big deal.
I have a lot more I want to say but I will say it on stream later today instead of writing a book on here.Thank you guys again, sorry you all had to see that. This is definitely my last Twitchcon, and it saddens me to say as a 10 year off and on attendee of Twitchcon, I think other creators should seriously consider not attending in the future. I did not feel cared for or protected, even bringing my own security and staff. I can't imagine how creators without those options would feel.
Stay safe y'all, everything is going to be okay
Link Archive
Video of the assault:
Link Archive
