On the inaugural day of TwitchCon 2025, prominent cosplayer, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer Emiru, who has nearly two million followers, was allegedly attacked during a meet-and-greet session on Friday, Oct. 17.
A clip shared on X depicts a person approaching Emiru, seizing her, and apparently trying to kiss her. Emiru pushed the individual away before security intervened and escorted the person away. Reports on X suggest that Emiru returned to the meet-and-greet and finished the event. The video, released at 8:21 p.m. EST, has garnered almost 400,000 views.
“So some creep just assaulted Emiru at @TwitchCon. This conduct is appalling. I’m astonished that she returned to complete the meet-and-greet line — frankly, she deserves immense respect. THIS HAS TO END!!!” states the original tweet.
Twitch responded to the incident with a comment to Mashable, underscoring its commitment to attendee safety:
“The safety and security of all individuals attending TwitchCon is our top priority,” a Twitch representative remarked. “The behavior exhibited by the person involved in this incident was utterly unacceptable and profoundly troubling. We promptly expelled this individual from TwitchCon property, and they are banned indefinitely from Twitch, both online and at in-person events. Twitch maintains a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.”
Just hours prior to the incident, Mary Kish, Twitch’s head of community, stressed to Mashable the significance of educating all streamers about the widespread nature of harassment, particularly against women, and the necessity to “ensure these spaces are safe.”
“I wouldn’t advise women to become streamers if I thought it wasn’t safe for us. We must persist in being very proactive in that area and lead the way,” she stated, mentioning that safety initiatives such as linking phones to accounts to deter online harassment and ensuring banned accounts cannot view streams have aided in “preventing someone who is aggressively pursuing another from simply creating another account.”
This isn’t the first occasion TwitchCon has encountered criticism regarding attendee safety. Streamers Valkyrae and QTCinderella opted out of this year’s event, citing substantial anxiety over the risks female streamers face in public environments like TwitchCon. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has consistently assured improved safety measures, asserting that “we take security at our events, such as TwitchCon, extremely seriously.” Nonetheless, in 2024, Kick-affiliated streamers disrupted the event, harassing Twitch streamers on-site.
For Emiru, this represents the second prominent harassment incident in recent months. In March, while livestreaming in Santa Monica with streamers Cinna and Valkyrae, a man allegedly threatened to kill them, according to a BBC report.
Additional reporting by Crystal Bell.