Today, Twitch Ali “Gross Gore” Larsen banished and de-partner, a longtime streamer and subject of controversy, after allegations of old and new came to light last weekend.
ALegations emerged after the 28-year-old Larsen, who has been banned from Twitch numberseveral times over the years, posted a message on the RoastMe subreddit on Friday. This prompted users to discuss previous allegations against him, culminating in it long lists of Larsen’s misstepsincluding videos of Larsen himself talking about the times he asked a 15-year-old to show her breasts (he was 18 at the time) and slept with a 16-year-old when he was in his 20s, as well as a video showing another streamer, Jenna, accuses him of sexually assaulting her during TwitchCon. Threads also referred to a series of incidents in the UK Runescape convention Runefest in 2018, which Kotaku reported at that time, including a video in which Larsen appears to grab a woman’s face and try to kiss her, as well as multiple alleged inappropriate remarks to women that culminated in a physical fight between Larsen and another streamer, Skiddler, which was spread by hotel staff and the Police .
In the aftermath of these allegations, a woman named Eve came forward with her own story on Saturday and said that Larsen was nursing her again in 2008 when she was 13 and he was 16. “Ali offered me video opportunities, clan rankings, and appearing on his personal YouTube channel,” she said wrote in a TwitlongerIn return, all I had to do was moan while he masturbated … Even at thirteen, I knew I was doing something wrong, but it wasn’t until many years later that I understood how he used his power over me to help him masturbate. “
During a disagreement, Jenna said Kotaku Larsen was like a “big brother” to her for a long time, but at a party at TwitchCon 2019 he got drunk and refused to stop touching her arms, legs and thigh while the two sat on a couch. Finally he asked to grab her face. “It was super scary,” said Jenna Kotaku, noting that she had previously witnessed and spoken with Larsen about other cases of sexual assault at events, believing he was also drunk. Then he begged to grab me. And I was like, ‘No dude, you’re my brother. Stop doing this. She says she left the party not long after.
In response to the charges, Larsen posted a YouTube video on Saturday claiming that some allegations, such as the video of Jenna accusing him of sexual assault, were false or taken out of context, and that he had already apologized to others and turned a new page. “There are some disgusting things from my past and I can promise you that I am not who I am today,” he said. “I look back, I cringe, I am ashamed and I am so sorry.”
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Now, several days later, Twitch has banned him and revoked his partnership status, meaning he probably won’t be back this time. In a statement to KotakuTwitch quoted its rules against inappropriate behavior outside of the platform.
“The safety of our community is our top priority,” a Twitch spokesperson said in an email. “We take appropriate action when we have evidence that a streamer has violated our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, including in certain instances where the conduct may have occurred outside of Twitch. These apply to all streamers regardless of status or prominence in the community. “
The spokesperson specifically mentioned a line that says, “We may take action against any person for hateful conduct or harassment that occurs outside of Twitch services and targeted at Twitch users.”
Kotaku also reached out to Larsen, who pointed a video he posted on Twitter shortly after he was exiled. 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,” said Larsen in the video. ‘I don’t know what to say anymore. I am so used to being thrown around in this community and enjoy being bullied and bullied. They bring up things from 2016. “
He speculated that Twitch banned him for a “ revenge porn ” incident in which he allegedly sent nude photos to the mother of a then teen streamer, but said he showed her mother her Instagram account and that she was 18 at the time. “This is a mistake on Twitch,” he concluded, adding that he will be streaming on YouTube tomorrow.
Despite a laundry list of alleged violations, Twitch took the time to ban Larsen. In 2018 he had already been suspended several times, including in 2016 after harassing a Riot employeeIn a video that Larsen released after Runefest 2018, he said Twitch would have perma-banned him if “someone at Twitch” had not intervened on his behalf. Instead, the company suspended him for a month and prevented him from attending TwitchCon, suggesting that it was well aware of the seriousness of his actions on Runefest. Since then, Larsen has managed to grow his Twitch audience to half a million followers. Larsen’s ban comes almost a year later Twitch’s # MeToo checkout, which resulted in the business banning several streamers accused of sexual assault and pledged to “continue to review allegations against people affiliated with Twitch and explore ways for Twitch to partner with other industry leaders on this important issue.” Months later, the company also arrives finally said goodbye to an employee accused of sexual assault by a streamer.
Jenna hopes something good will come from Larsen’s Twitch ban. “I feel really bad, but he’s doing it to himself,” she said. Clearly, what he’s doing is awful and unforgivable. He really needs help or else he will continue to hurt people. That’s all there is to it. Maybe Twitch, who bans him, will force him to go get that help. “
In response to Larsen’s Twitch ban and everything else that’s happened, Eve shared Kotaku that she is “happy and ready to move on,” but that Larsen’s reaction to his ban has left her cold.
“He never contacted me, and all I wanted was a confirmation and a personal heartfelt apology,” Eve wrote in a DM. “He’s been doing the same for over 10 years. If he wanted to write my story off as a kid, why didn’t this behavior stop when he grew up? I sincerely hoped that after writing my story he would get in touch, apologize, and I could go ahead and tell him I forgive him. But that video just showed me how he wasn’t sorry and that he deserved to be banned. I have no doubt that if he didn’t get banned, there would be more stories in the future about Ali sexually assaulting or molesting women. Without being held accountable, I don’t think he would see any reason to change. “