Today, Twitch Ali “Gross Gore” Larsen banned and disbanded, a long-running striker and subject of controversy, after allegations of sexual assault came to light old and new last weekend.
Aallegations against the 28-year-old Larsen, suspended by Twitch numberour times through the years, made a post on the RoredMe subreddit on Friday. This led to users discussing previous allegations against him, which resulted in long lists of Larsen’s indiscretions, including videos of Larsen himself talking about times he asked a 15-year-old to show her breasts (he was then 18) and slept with a 16-year-old when he was in his twenties, as well as a video in which another streamer, Jenna, accuses him of sexually assaulting her during TwitchCon. Threads also referred to a series of incidents in the UK Runescape runefest event in 2018, which Kotaku reported at the time, including a video in which Larsen appears to be grabbing a woman’s face and trying to kiss, as well as several alleged inappropriate remarks towards women resulting in a physical altercation between Larsen and another spreader, Skiddler, spread by hotel staff and the police.
In the wake of these allegations, a woman named Eve came forward on Saturday with her own story, saying that Larsen cared for her in 2008, when she was 13 and he was 16. “Ali offered me video opportunities, rankings of audio chats, and to watch on his personal YT channel,” she said. wrote in a Twitlonger. ‘In return I only have to complain while he masturbates … Even at 13 I knew I was doing something wrong, but it was only many years later that I understood how he used his power over me to help him masturbate . ”
About a Discord call, Jenna says Kotaku that Larsen was like a ‘big brother’ to her for a long time, but during a party at TwitchCon 2019, he got drunk and refused to stop touching her arms, legs and thighs while the two were on a couch wash. Finally he asked to grab her face. “It was super creepy,” Jenna said Kotakuand noted that she had previously been a witness and talked to Larsen about other cases of sexual assault on occasions, during which she believes he was also drunk. Then he started begging to grab me. And I was like ‘No guy, you’re my brother. Stop doing that. “She says she did not leave the party long after that.
In response to the allegations, Larsen posted a YouTube video Saturday in which he claims that some allegations, such as the video of Jenna accusing him of sexual assault, were false or out of context, and that he has already apologized to others and turned over a new leaf. “There are some disgusting things from my past, and I can promise you that I am not today,” he said. “I look back, I cringe, I feel ashamed, and I’m so sorry.”
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Now, a few days later, Twitch has banned him and taken away his partnership status, meaning he is unlikely to return this time. In a statement to Kotaku, Twitch quoted its rules against inappropriate behavior off the platform.
“The safety of our community is our top priority,” a Twitch spokesman said in an email. ‘We take the necessary steps if we have evidence that a streamer acted in violation of our community guidelines or terms of service, including in certain cases where the conduct took place outside of Twitch. This applies to all streamers regardless of status or notoriety in the community. ”
The spokesman specifically cites a rule that says, “We can take action against individuals for hate speech or harassment that occurs outside of Twitch services and is directed at Twitch users.”
Kotaku also reached out to Larsen, who pointed out a video he posted on Twitter shortly after he was banned. In the video, Larsen showed viewers the email he received from Twitch, citing “sexual exploitation of adults” as the reason for his ban.
“I no longer know what to believe,” Larsen said in the video. “I do not know what to say anymore. I’m so used to being tossed around in this community, and like to be bullied and picked. They are bringing things up from 2016. ”
He speculated that Twitch had banned him for a “revenge porn” incident in which he allegedly sent nudity to a then-teenager’s mother, but he said he only showed her mother her Instagram account and that she then 18 was. “This is a Twitch bug,” he concluded, adding that he would start streaming on YouTube tomorrow.
Despite a laundry list of alleged offenses, Twitch took its time to ban Larsen. In 2018, he had been suspended several times, including in 2016 after harassing a Riot employee. In a video released by Larsen after Runefest 2018, he said Twitch would have banned him permanently if ‘someone at Twitch’ had not intervened on his behalf. Instead, the company suspended him for a month and prevented him from attending TwitchCon, indicating that he was well aware of the seriousness of his performance at 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 Account, which resulted in the company bans multiple streamers accused of sexual assault and promises to “continue to assess allegations against people affiliated with Twitch and to explore ways in which Twitch can work with other industry leaders on this important issue.” Months later, the company also ends up with an employee accused of sexual assault by a spreader.
Jenna hopes that something good will come of Larsen’s Twitch ban. “I feel really bad, but he does it to himself,” she said. ‘What he does is, of course, terrible and unforgivable. He really needs help, otherwise he’s going to keep hurting people. That’s all there’s to it. Maybe Twitch will forbid him to go get that help. ‘
In response to Larsen’s ban on Twitch and everything that happened, Eve said Kotaku that she is ‘happy and ready to move forward’, but that Larsen’s reaction to his ban leaves her cold.
“He never reached out to me, and all I wanted was an acknowledgment and a private sincere apology,” Eve wrote in a DM. “He’s been doing the same thing for over ten years. If he wanted to copy my story as a child, then why did this behavior not end when he grew up? I was honestly hopeful after writing my story, he would reach out, apologize, and I could move on and tell him I was forgiving him. But that video just showed me how sorry he was and deserves to be banned. I have no doubt in my mind if he is not banned, there will be more stories of Ali sexually assaulting or harassing women in the future. Without holding him accountable, I do not think he will see reason to change. ”
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