Ray apologizes after Ironmouse left "shaking" at Streamer Awards
Independent vtuber Ironmouse revealed that her interaction with fellow Twitch streamers RaKai and Chen-Ruei “rayasianboy” Hsu at The Streamer Awards was so uncomfortable for her that she was left “shaking” the entire time, and while now Ray has issued a statement apologizing to Ironmouse, the community remains divided on who was at fault.
Ironmouse is one of the most popular vtubers in the industry, someone whose popularity has become so great that she has even gone toe-to-toe with record-setting Twitch star Kai Cenat. She dethroned Kai as the most subscribed Twitch streamer at one point, though Cenat managed to win back his title. Ironmouse is now in the news again not because of her reach and fan following, but because of Streamer Awards drama that led to Ray apologizing to her.
What happened between Ironmouse, RaKai, and Ray?
Ironmouse agreed to answer any questions that RaKai and Ray had about her during a Streamer Awards interview segment, and the two Twitch streamers proceeded to ask about her real-life appearance, which has led to much drama and controversy.
Ironmouse wasn’t present at The Streamer Awards physically, which is normal for her as she is quite serious about maintaining her anonymity. The vtuber attended using an iPad, which showed her avatar to other live attendees. RaKai and Ray engaged Ironmouse in a conversation via her avatar, with the vtuber saying that she would answer any questions the two streamers might have for her.
Image credit: Twitch
Both were curious about what Ironmouse looked like behind her vtuber avatar, and asked her about her physical appearance. Ironmouse answered that she is Puerto Rican, but the streamers continued the conversation about her looks. This apparently bothered the vtuber, as it led to Ironmouse later revealing that she was uncomfortable with line of questions and was “shaking” during the entire conversation.
Ray responded later by commenting on the matter and apologizing to Ironmouse for making her feel uncomfortable, adding that he hoped she would get better. He said that he likes Ironmouse as part of his apology, but he also stated that he “doesn’t want to see her again” following the blowback he experienced after the conversation.
The streaming community is largely divided on the situation, with Ironmouse’s many fans unsurprisingly supporting her. Those fans are upset with RaKai and Ray for asking Ironmouse to describe her looks so directly. This is in large part because the vtuber keeps her IRL and streaming lives fully separate, having never performed a face reveal.
Other fans and content creators were more critical of Ironmouse, claiming she should be “more mature” and questioning what she expected in inviting two streamers like Ray and RaKai ask her “anything.” Other streamers including John “Tectone” Robertson and Felix “xQc” Lengyel have put forward that Ironmouse had the option of ending the conversation at any time if she’d wanted to, though others have countered that she may not have felt comfortable so dramatically ending a conversation with two very popular personalities on Twitch.
It’s also notable that RaKai was banned from Twitch during The Streamer Awards, but he was still at the event and on other Twitch streams. This is something Twitch has levied additional punishments for in the past, but there hasn’t yet been any word about RaKai getting into trouble with the streaming platform for his appearance.
Feature image credit: Ironmouse, RaKai, Ray
Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.
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