Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said his platform takes security “extremely seriously” after Valkyrae and QTCinderella said they’re considering skipping next month’s TwitchCon due to safety concerns.
In a recent episode of their podcast Wine About It, the two streamers–who planned to record an episode live onstage at at the convention–mentioned the murder of Japanese streamer Airi Sato, who was stabbed to death by a male stalker while broadcasting in Tokyo.
“I’ve been so anxious and scared and sad this whole past week,” Valkyrae said. “It just takes one person.”
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“Respectfully, I don’t feel irrational. I feel very scared,” QTCinderella agreed, adding that after Sato’s murder, “I almost pulled out of all my obligations. I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.'” She ended up being “talked off the ledge,” she said, but other “horrible things have happened” that have made her nervous about attending.
She said that for now, she and Valkyrae have given Twitch “a soft, ‘Hey, we’re in a bit of a panic mode right now.'” We’ve seen reports that the duo have cancelled their TwitchCon appearances, but there’s no public confirmation of that yet.
@wineaboutitpodcast We might skip Twitchcon this year.. #podcast #twitch #valkyrae #qtcinderella #wineaboutit ♬ original sound – Wine About It
QTCinderella didn’t go into the “horrible things” that have made her and Valkyrae anxious about security, but we can guess at some of them: This past March, Amouranth had her house broken into by people who wanted to steal her cryptocurrency; separately, less than 24 hours later, Valkyrae, Cinna, and Emiru were accosted on the street by a man who got down on one knee and proposed to them, then threatened to kill them when they refused.
There’s also the fact that TwitchCon was rife with harassment in 2024, mostly from Kick streamers crashing the event. One Kick streamer, DBR666, sexually assaulted creators Nmplol and Wake Wilder on camera. Other incidents ended in physical fights. After the convention wrapped, Kick CEO Ed Craven said his platform was “continuously working on reviewing policy and doing better,” while Twitch said it was investigating the incidents and pointed out that it had a safety/security team present at the event.
Clancy’s current response to Valkyrae and QTCinderella’s concerns has a similar vibe. “I want to be very clear; we take security at our events, like TwitchCon, extremely seriously,” he said. “Every year, we build on successful approaches to TwitchCon safety and security, particularly as we become aware of new or emerging security or safety challenges.”
He added, “We have teams focused on this year-round, including keeping creators and community members safe on Twitch or at TwitchCon. We have rules and standards regarding TwitchCon attendees, and we limit people who have been indefinitely suspended off service violations–they are not able to attend.”
Valkyrae and QTCinderella have not responded to Clancy’s statement–but Asmongold did, and he didn’t mince words, mentioning the incident with DBR666.
“Last year, nmplol and wake were sexually assaulted by a streamer and Twitch didn’t press charges or pursue any form of legal action against him,” he said. “If I was a woman, I would never go to twitchcon.”
Streamers including QTCinderella have talked about hiring personal security/bodyguards, but there may be conflict about what guards are allowed to do at TwitchCon. We’ve seen reports that TwitchCon security has a policy of not laying hands on anyone, which we imagine makes it difficult to truly protect streamers. We reached out to Twitch to confirm the veracity of these reports and ask what TwitchCon security staff are/are not allowed to do.
Whether Valkyrae and QTCinderella decide to go, TwitchCon 2025 will take place in San Diego Oct. 17-19. More than 22,000 people attended last year.
