Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa is the biggest streamer on Twitch. Now she says: She is being threatened by a stalker who moved from Estonia to a hotel near her. She fears for her life. But Amouranth has a plan: she is armed and keeps an eye on the stalker.
Trigger warning: The article deals with a streamer who is being stalked. This may evoke dark feelings in some readers.
This is a new, dangerous phenomenon for Twitch streamers:
- Female streamers on Twitch have been experiencing a phenomenon similar to that of actors or musicians in recent years: people watch them regularly and enter into “parasocial relationships”: people develop personal feelings for them because the streamers seem so approachable. Complete strangers believe a streamer is their friend, their confidant, perhaps even a great love.
- For some individuals, this turns into pathological behavior: people become stalkers. They threaten the streamers or try to ruin their lives, apparently in a misguided attempt to be close to the streamers or somehow influence their lives.
- Some streamers, big and small, have been living in fear of stalkers for years: just recently, we reported on MeinMMO about a WoW streamer who was harassed for years by a former moderator with psychological terror and suffered greatly from it.
This is what Amouranth says: The streamer speaks on a private Twitter account about her stalker. She says:
I have a stalker who came to my area on May 8th. He watches my streams all day and imitates everything I do: he does bad ASMR, takes a shower in his Twitch stream while I lie in the bathtub.
Man has given up everything – No way out left
Why is the streamer frightening her? Amouranth is a reflective, disciplined, and highly pragmatic person, as is known, and she is very aware of her role on Twitch. The 28-year-old is not easily impressed. But this stalker really disturbs her:
- The man has sold everything he had to travel to her area
- Now he lives in a hotel near Amouranth and continues to accumulate debt every day
- He leaves himself no option to get out of the situation
The streamer says:
He is exhausting all his resources and has no options left. I fear for my life and that he might do something. The police are aware of my situation; they know what hotel he is at and they send a patrol regularly – but they can’t do anything even if he plans something.
How is Amouranth dealing with it? The streamer says: she is now armed, has obtained a “Peng Peng” device, meaning a firearm.
Additionally, an “armed staff member” sleeps in the guest room.
She urges her viewers not to report the stalker’s Twitch account. Apparently, she herself constantly watches the stalker’s channel or has it monitored. Because in this way, she receives “valuable information”, which is important for her well-being and mental health.
Apparently, this way she always knows where the stalker is. Then he can’t just suddenly show up at her place.
