Today, Twitch banned and stopped collaborating with Ali “Gross Gore” Larsen, a longtime and controversial streamer, after allegations of old and new sexual assaults came to light last weekend.
Alegacies arose after the age of 28 years Larsen, who has been suspended by Twitchmany times over the years, made a post on the RoastMe subreddit Friday. This led users to discuss previous allegations against him, which culminated in long lists of Larsen indiscretions, including videos of Larsen himself talking about sometimes asking a 15-year-old to show her breasts (he was 18 at the time) and going to bed with a 16-year-old when she was about twenty, so as a video in which another streamer, Jenna, accuses her of sexually assaulting her during TwitchCon. The threads also referred to a number of incidents in the UK Runescape Runefest convention in 2018, Which one Kotaku was reported at the time, including a video in which Larsen appears to grab a woman’s face and try to kiss her, as well as several alleged inappropriate comments to the women that culminated in a physical altercation between Larsen and another streamer, Skiddler, who was dispersed. by hotel staff and police.
Following the reappearance of these allegations, a woman named Eve introduced herself on Saturday with her own story, saying Larsen fixed it in 2008, when she was 13 and he was 16. “Ali offered me video opportunities, clan chat ratings, and appear on your personal YT channel, “he said he wrote in a Twitlonger. “In return, all I had to do was moan while masturbating … Even at 13 I knew I was doing something wrong, but I didn’t understand until many years later how he used his power over me to help to masturbate. ”
During a Discord call, Jenna said Kotaku that Larsen was like a “big brother” to her for a long time, but during a party at TwitchCon 2019, she got drunk and refused to stop touching her arms, legs and thigh while the two were on the couch. Finally, he asked her to grab his face. “It was super creepy,” Jenna said Kotaku, noting that he had previously witnessed and spoken with Larsen about other cases of sexual assault at events, during which he believes he was also drunk. “Then he started begging me to take him. And I was like “No friend, you’re my brother. Stop that.” He says he ended up leaving the party soon after.
In response to the allegations, Larsen posted a YouTube video on Saturday, in which he claimed that some allegations, such as Jenna’s video accusing her of sexual assault, were false or removed from context, and that she had already apologized to others and handed over a new sheet. “There are some disgusting things from my past and I can promise you that I am not what I am today,” he said. “I look back, I shudder, I’m embarrassed and I’m sorry.”
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Now, several days later, Twitch has banned him and removed his collaboration status, which means he probably won’t be back this time. In a statement a Kotaku, Twitch cited its rules against inappropriate off-platform behavior.
“The safety of our community is our top priority,” a Twitch spokesman said in an email. “We take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has acted in violation of our Community guidelines or the Terms and Conditions of Service, including in certain cases where the behavior may have occurred outside of Twitch. They apply to all streamers regardless of state or community prominence “.
The spokesman specifically mentioned a rule that says, “We can take action against people for hateful or harassing behavior that occurs outside of Twitch’s services and is directed at Twitch users.”
Kotaku also reached Larsen, who pointed out a video he posted on Twitter shortly afterwards he had been forbidden. In the video, Larsen showed viewers the email he received from Twitch, citing “adult sexual exploitation” as the reason for his ban.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Larsen said in the video. “I do not know what to say. I’m very used to being thrown into this community and I like to be harassed and caught. They are taking things out of 2016 ”.
He speculated that Twitch banned him for an incident of “revenge porn” in which he allegedly sent a teen streamer’s mother naked, but said he only showed his mother his Instagram account and who was then 18 years old. “This is a Twitch bug,” he concluded, adding that it will start streaming on YouTube tomorrow.
Despite a laundry list of alleged violations, Twitch took the time to ban Larsen. In 2018, it had already been suspended several times, inclusive in 2016 after harassing a Riot employee. In a video Larsen posted after Runefest 2018, said Twitch would have banned him permanently if “someone from Twitch” had not intervened on his behalf. Instead, the company he suspended him for a month and prevented him from attending TwitchCon, suggesting that he was well aware of the seriousness of his actions at Runefest. Since then, Larsen has managed to continue to increase its Twitch audience to half a million followers. Larsen’s ban comes almost a year later Twitch’s #MeToo calculation, which led to the company banning several streamers accused of sexual assault and promising to “continue to assess allegations against Twitch affiliates and explore ways in which Twitch can collaborate with other industry leaders on this important issue.” Months later, the company too he ended up separating from an employee accused of sexual assault for a streamer.
Jenna hopes some good will come from Larsen’s Twitch ban. “I feel bad, really, but it does it on its own,” he said. “Obviously, what he is doing is horrible and unforgivable. He really needs help or will continue to hurt people. That’s all there is to it. Maybe Twitch banning him will force him to go get that help. “
In response to Larsen’s Twitch ban and everything that has happened, Eve said Kotaku that she is “happy and ready to move forward,” but that Larsen’s response to her ban left her cold.
“It never reached me, and all I wanted was a private recognition and sincere apology,” Eve wrote in a DM. “He has been doing the same things for more than ten years. If I wanted to write my story when I was a kid, why didn’t he end this behavior when he grew up? Honestly, after writing my story, I was hoping he would come over, apologize, and I could go ahead and tell him I forgive him. But that video just showed me that I didn’t feel it and deserved to be banned. I have no doubt in my mind if it were not banned, there would be more stories in the future that Ali would sexually assault or harass women. Without taking responsibility, I don’t think I would see a reason to change. “
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