Streamer alleges man tried to kiss her onstage at TwitchCon

A popular Twitch streamer was confronted by a man who went on stage uninvited and tried to kiss her during a meet-and-greet session Friday at TwitchCon at the San Diego Convention Center, according to a video shared online.

It happened shortly after 5 p.m. at a booth featuring Emily Schunk, who goes by the name Emiru. The video shows an unidentified man being pushed away by her security after the incident while Emiru was escorted offstage by her manager.

“Hello everyone, I am okay and thank you for all of the kind messages, sorry I cannot respond to them all,” she said in a post on X on Saturday. “Yesterday, the man who assaulted me was allowed to cross multiple barriers at TwitchCon and even in front of another creators meet and greet to grab me and my face and try to kiss me. Fortunately he wasn’t able to, but a lot of people have pointed out it could have been a lot worse!”

Emiru’s post continues: “I’m obviously shaken up by what happened and it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with something like this, but to tell you honestly, I am a lot more hurt and upset by how Twitch handled it during and after the fact.”

A San Diego Police Department spokesperson said officers responded Friday to the lobby of the hotel where she was staying and a police report was taken. It was unknown if an arrest had been made.

“In Twitch’s statement they said that the guy was immediately caught and detained, I’m sorry but that is a blatant lie,” Emiru wrote on X. “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.”

Twitch also addressed the episode in a statement on X Saturday.

“The safety and security of all those attending TwitchCon is our highest priority,” the statement said. “The behavior displayed by the individual involved in the incident yesterday (Friday) involving a high profile streamer was completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting.”

Security was increased at the site and the individual was blocked from returning to TwitchCon premises and banned from future events, the statement said.

Twitch is a live-streaming platform focused on video games, but also features content involving music, art and cooking among other topics. Users can watch live broadcasts of streamers and interact with each other and the streamer through a built-in chat feature. It is owned by Amazon and has become the world’s largest video game streaming service, with millions of daily visitors.

Maren Dougherty, executive director of marketing & communications for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, released the following statement to City News Service on Sunday: “We want a safe and secure experience for everyone inside our building. Together with local law enforcement and event security, we support Twitch’s increased security measures throughout TwitchCon.”

The three-day convention ends Sunday.