The streamer Kunshikitty wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her nearly 225,000 followers on Twitch. However, while she was out in Cologne, she was hit multiple times with firecrackers. The incident spread on social media and was exploited there.
This was the situation: The Twitch streamer Kunshikitty hosts a New Year’s Eve stream every year on December 31. However, this year’s transition took an unpleasant turn: Shortly before midnight, the streamer was attacked multiple times.
At around 11:45 PM, Kunshikitty was hit in the head by an unknown person with a firecracker. The streamer screamed, holding her head. A few minutes later, she was hit again.
Kunshikitty was not discouraged by the incident and continued her stream. Clips spread rapidly on social media and were viewed hundreds of thousands of times, such as here on X.
Attack on streamer exploited
The incident was also discussed internationally in the Subreddit r/LivestreamFail, the largest streaming community on Reddit. The thread received over 32,000 upvotes, but many comments had to be removed by moderators before the comments were completely closed.
The claim of the thread creator that Kunshikitty wanted to prove to her viewers that it was possible for a woman to safely walk past groups of celebrating men is not substantiated. Instead, the streamer had stated beforehand that it gets very hectic in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. She mentioned that she was going into a “war zone” and admitted to being afraid of the fireworks.
Just before she was hit a second time, Kunshikitty said it was sad that as a woman, one cannot even feel safe from being thrown at, even with male companionship. She speculated that the person probably would not have dared if she were a “two-meter bouncer.”
In a stream on January 1, 2026, Kunshikitty clarified that she did not want to prove anything. Any claims of that nature should not be taken seriously. Reports that she intended to take legal action were also not true (X).
In the German-speaking streaming subreddit r/Laesterschwestern, moderators also had to take action after racist comments occurred. The remaining discussion mainly revolves around criticism of the behavior of those responsible. Some users are calling for the attack to be reported, while others are advocating for a ban on fireworks. Ultimately, the situation could have literally gone “in the eye.”
In connection with the attack on Kunshikitty, discussions about IRL streams have arisen again. In these, streamers leave their gaming rooms and go “into real life.” While this sounds harmless, it frequently causes problems.
Some passersby feel disturbed by the filming streamers – after all, not everyone wants to be presented to thousands of people on the internet without their consent. For content creators, it can even become truly dangerous: there have already been several assaults and “IRL stream sniping,” where viewers find out where streamers are located.
Note: This topic is highly politically charged due to the sexual assaults that occurred on December 31, 2015, in Cologne. The attack on Kunshikitty is exploited in this context. Therefore, we have decided to keep the comments closed, as we cannot ensure moderation with the holiday staff.
Thank you for your understanding.
