Livestreaming service Twitch is facing backlash after videos captured popular streamer Emiru being assaulted by a rogue fan during a TwitchCon meet and greet.
Video footage circulated on social media of the man storming toward Emiru, whose real name is Emily-Beth Schunk, and attempting to grab her face and kiss her during a meet and greet event on the first day of the streaming platform’s flagship convention in San Diego on Friday.
Schunk, 27, visibly recoiled as her personal security guard ran to shove the man away, the clip showed.
The popular cosplayer with over two million followers on Twitch blasted the platform’s handling of the alleged assault in a statement on X.
“Yesterday, the man who assaulted me was allowed to cross multiple barriers at TwitchCon and even in front of another creator’s meet and greet to grab me and my face and try to kiss me,” Schunk wrote.
“The security in the clip who reacts is my own security … 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,” she claimed.
Twitch responded in a statement Saturday, stating it will boost security measures by adding additional security personnel and has barred attendees from bringing any plus ones to TwitchCon.
“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,” the statement read.
“Twitch has zero tolerance for harassment or acts that inhibit the safety and security of our community,” the company wrote.
Schunk claimed that the company’s statement was a “blatant lie” and that the assaulter was not immediately caught or detained.
“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,” Schunk wrote.
The content creator said she is “obviously shaken up” by the ordeal.
In a video posted to YouTube, she added that her manager contacted police after the incident and plans to press charges against the man.
She also claimed Twitch is planning to suspend the man from the streaming platform for a month before possibly ruling on an indefinite ban.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on additional information about the man or any charges filed against him.
The shocking incident comes after several female streamers have voiced concerns over their safety at TwitchCon events.
Many of their concerns have been elevated over the murder of a Japanese streamer, Airi Sato, who was stabbed to death in March by a follower on a Tokyo street, The New York Times reported.
Sato, 22, had been filming herself making a circuit of major train stations when Kenji Takano, 42, allegedly ambushed her and stabbed her in the head, neck, and torso on a busy street.
“I don’t feel irrational about it. I feel very scared,” one streamer, QTCinderella, said on a podcast episode last month.
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