At the opening day of TwitchCon San Diego 2025, popular streamer Emily “Emiru” Schunk was assaulted during a scheduled meet-and-greet, in an incident that has reignited debate over the safety of creators at large fan events. Video circulating on social media clearly shows a male attendee stepping onto the stage, approaching Emiru, and making unwanted physical contact before being removed by event staff.
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In response, Twitch released a statement saying the company is aware of the incident involving Emiru and that it takes creator safety extremely seriously. The company confirmed that the person responsible was removed from their position and that a full review of security protocols is underway.
While the assailant’s identity and legal status have not been publicly confirmed, the footage has triggered widespread outrage. Some fans have questioned how the individual reached the stage area and expressed deep concern about the protocols in place at such high-profile events.
Saw so many women saying they weren’t going to be attending TwitchCon this year because they don’t feel safe, and then this happens to Emiru on day one pic.twitter.com/Yazc5VBPWF
— shenAndygans (@Sh3nAndygans) October 18, 2025
The incident comes against the backdrop of earlier safety challenges for Emiru. In March 2025 she, along with fellow streamers Valkyrae and Cinna, were chased by a man during a live-streamed outing on Santa Monica Pier who threatened to kill them after one had refused his request for a phone number. That event led to a public response from Twitch, which said it was “horrified by the harassment and abuse targeting our creators — whether on the platform or outside of it” and confirmed its safety teams were investigating.
In addition, resurfaced commentary from Emiru points to a previous event where her personal security guard was permanently banned from a past TwitchCon after restraining an attendee who reportedly was harassing her. Emiru has claimed the ban appeared politically motivated and was unrelated to the guard’s actions, though no public record confirms the motive or full nature of the ban.
Further complicating the context: Emiru says she was forced to carry out her meet-and-greet without her dedicated security team despite prior threats from attendees. Meanwhile, streamer Cinna is reported to have been allowed to cancel her meet-and-greet at the same event—an option that Emiru says she was not offered, reportedly because if she had cancelled she would not have been paid. These claims have circulated on social media; publicly documented contract terms or venue correspondence backing this are not available.
Adding to the pressure on Emiru, she has faced targeted harassment from other creators and social-media users after publicly stating that encouraging child protective services be called on the children of Ethan Klein was unacceptable. In the ensuing backlash, she has alleged that unnamed large-scale Twitch personalities publicly labelled her a “zionist” simply for making that comment. The specific slur and its usage remain unverified beyond user-generated social-media posts.
The episode at TwitchCon illustrates that, despite repeated warnings and prior incidents, creators remain vulnerable in public settings. Twitch’s statement reads in part: “We are aware of the incident involving streamer Emiru during TwitchCon and want to assure our community that we take creator safety extremely seriously. We are conducting a full review of our security protocols and are implementing stronger on-site safety measures to ensure TwitchCon remains a safe and positive environment for everyone—creators, fans and staff alike.”
As many creators have argued, the question now is not merely whether such incidents can be prevented, but whether platforms like Twitch and event organisers are willing to invest the structural changes required to protect creators long-term.
