Last night, a total of four female Twitch streamers were assaulted, three while together broadcasting in public and one at home in an entirely different state.
In the first case, longtime YouTube (and recent Twitch) star Rachell “Valkyrae” Hoffstetter was out at the Santa Monica Pier with fellow streamers Brittany "Cinna" Watts and Emily “Emiru” Schunk as part of Hoffstetter’s then-ongoing Sis-A-Thon marathon broadcast, when they encountered a crouching man who’d seemingly been following them.
The man lured the group in by asking if they’d listen to him sing a song and then immediately tried to get Schunk’s number, causing the streamers to hastily walk away. Undeterred, the man proceeded to follow them to a nearby snack vendor. After a couple of minutes, he began verbally threatening them, saying things like “Let’s fucking fight right now.” When Hoffstetter called for security, the man tried to rush the group while shouting, “I’ll kill you right now.”
The streamers ended the broadcast not long after. Nobody was hurt, but Hoffstetter understandably decided to conclude her marathon.
“We are all OK and have been with police,” she wrote on Twitter last night. “We decided we are done with the marathon and need time to process! … Please send love to Emiru, Cinna, [camera person] Rosii, and Emily! Everybody is in shock but I’m so glad [we’re] together.”
During a follow up broadcast today, Hoffstetter and Watts, still visibly shaken up, told viewers more about what happened before and after the stream clip that went viral, noting that they had to “hide in a shed for 15 minutes until cops came” after receiving what they felt was insufficient aid from workers at Santa Monica Pier (though Watts added that she didn’t think it was workers’ fault). The two also asked viewers to provide any additional details they might have to help identify the man. They went on to defend themselves against online suggestions that the situation wasn’t particularly serious because the man didn’t seem to have a weapon, which is a totally fucked thing to even need to do when there is clear video footage of somebody trying to assault you.
“He put his stuff on the ground to fistfight Emily,” said Hoffstetter during today’s stream.
“I am in hindsight very thankful that we were in the area that we were and that we were able to go into the store, because I think if we had been anywhere else on the pier, it would have been a very different situation,” said Watts. “Please take this stuff very seriously. It can happen to anybody if you’re male or female, but if you ask any girl streamer, they all have stories.”
To wit, nearly every female content creator featured in my book and many more I’ve spoken to over the years have all shared stories of stalkers and assailants, and as of last night, one, Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa – who in the past has dealt with stalkers, swatters, abuse, and even a suspected arsonist – was robbed at gunpoint in her home. She tweeted about the incident as it was unfolding, saying three gunmen had pistol whipped her to the point of bleeding in an attempt to get their hands on her crypto login info. Today she posted security camera footage of gunmen following her into a portion of her home and then fleeing after one seemingly sustained a bullet wound.
“They pistol-whipped me but I got one,” Siragusa tweeted last night. “Was at gun point they gave me phone and said log in with gun to my head, and I tweeted because calling would be a death sentence.”
The Esports Advocate received more details from a Houston Police Department spokesperson, saying that "during the time [the home invasion] was happening, Siragusa’s 36-year-old husband heard the commotion, armed himself, and entered the room. As the suspects attempted to flee, Siragusa’s husband was able to fire off an unknown number of shots, possibly injuring one of the suspects."
Speaking to Aftermath, both Jakob Avery, managing director of Siragusa’s company, and Nick Lee, evidently still with Siragusa even after the aforementioned 2022 abuse incident, took unspecified issue with the HPD’s account of events, but said they’d been advised against sharing more during an ongoing police investigation. Lee said that he believes he shot one of the intruders, all of whom had been in the process of drawing weapons, “aiming towards me, and shouting orders” before he opened fire.
Following the harrowing experiences of Siragusa, Hoffstetter, Watts, and Schunk – as well as those around them – many in the livestreaming community have suggested that bystanders and police will never make for sufficient protection, given their historically inconsistent responses to these issues. Content creators, they say, need to hire security. That’s far from an option for most streamers, which serves as a silent deterrent for women in the space. Others have pointed out that this is a multifaceted problem, and security only treats symptoms, not the sickness.
"It's not a one-off situation. It's not some random crazy guy," a streamer who goes by the handle Blau said of Hofstetter's situation during a recent broadcast. "This is the result of festering dialogue and conversation around women – around women creators especially. So before we start calling for 'Oh, we need security' [and] 'Oh, we should be more careful with IRL streams,' we need to start holding these fucking toxic clickbait engaging accounts, creators that are farming incel takes – we need to hold all of that accountable."
But in the meantime, streamers making millions, like Siragusa, can afford security. Avery told Aftermath that in Siragusa's case, that’s the plan.
“The team is currently looking to increase security on [Siragusa’s] property,” Avery said, “including more cameras, fortified perimeter, and hired security guards.”
