Twitch CEO Says ‘I Let You Down’ in New Apology to Emiru After TwitchCon Assault

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has issued a follow-up apology after the recent assault of streamer Emily “Emiru” Schunk at TwitchCon 2025, attempting to regain community trust amid mounting backlash over Twitch’s handling of the incident.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy Issues Second Apology After Emiru Assault at TwitchCon 2025

The assault took place on October 18 during TwitchCon San Diego, when an attendee groped Emiru during a meet-and-greet session. The moment, captured on video, quickly went viral and showed Emiru reacting in visible distress while event security failed to respond in time. Many fans and fellow creators slammed Twitch for its lack of protection, reopening a wider discussion about the platform’s safety standards, especially for women.

In an emotional stream following the incident, Emiru criticized Twitch’s security team, calling the situation a “mess” and revealing that staff allegedly dismissed her concerns, suggesting she “handle it herself.”

Initially, Clancy’s October 24 interview with journalist Taylor Lorenz only added fuel to the fire. While he called the incident a “security failure,” he argued that it was part of a wider social trend beyond Twitch.

"The challenge we face is a challenge in today's society; it's not limited to Twitch, it extends throughout our society," Clancy told Lorenz. 

"I do think that when you're livestreaming, in many ways, since you control your community and can ban people, you can make it so that those people you don't want engaging with you and participating with you aren't there. The reality is that, even as you do a lot in terms of security, in today's world, there are challenges that can present themselves, especially when someone is putting themselves out there. We try to work very closely with each creator about what they want to do, and works for them."

His wording about creators managing their “community” had drawn outrage for appearing to shift some blame toward Emiru, and the community demanded accountability from Twitch leadership.

Now, in his new statement, Clancy seems intent on correcting course. In his words:

“Twitch failed in our response to the assault of Emiru at 2025 TwitchCon San Diego, and in particular, I failed to communicate clearly in talking about the incident afterwards during an interview. I do not believe, and in no way intended to suggest that Emiru had any responsibility whatsoever for the incident at TwitchCon. I have a great deal of empathy for what creators such as Emiru have to deal with every day; I was trying to express that, and I did that poorly. I am sorry I let you down, Emiru, and I am sorry Twitch let you down. We appreciate all that you have done over the years on Twitch and we are committed to continuing to improve our TwitchCon security, processes and communications so that we can show up better for you (and all of our creators) moving forward.”

Twitch also made a statement (just before Clancy’s response), saying:

"We wanted to follow up on the post we recently made about a security incident at TwitchCon San Diego. As many of you know, at the 2025 TwitchCon San Diego event, one of our valued creators, Emiru, was assaulted by an attendee during a meet-and-greet event. Although Twitch works very hard to try to keep TwitchCon attendees safe and to prevent incidents like this from happening, we failed to do both things in this case - to keep Emiru safe and to prevent the assault from happening. We deeply regret the distress we caused for Emiru, our other creators, and the entire community. In recognition of Emiru’s advocacy, Twitch will be making a donation to support non-profit organizations working to prevent sexual violence. More details on that to follow soon."

Fans' response to Clancy’s apology has been mixed. Some creators appreciated the more direct language and acknowledgment of failure, calling it a “reiteration of accountability.” Others, however, see it as a hollow attempt at damage control. Streamer and industry commentator Zach Bussey described it as “better late than never,” while many demanding Clancy’s resignation.

As of now, Emiru has not publicly responded to Clancy’s apology.