NIJISANJI VTuber Kotoka Torahime has apologized to fans after using an ableist slur during her 100,000 subscriber endurance stream. The XSOLEIL star said she was not aware of the meaning of the word due to her cultural background.
New NIJISANJI debut Kotoka Torahime, from the recent XSOLEIL VTuber wave, has apologized after she used an ableist slur on a recent broadcast.
The star was pushing to reach 100,000 YouTube subscribers on the December 29 stream when she got angry in her ARK game: “What the f**k you suck. Seriously guys, come on. Can you not take turns to get out of the gate? You f**king r*tards.”
The comments quickly circulated, with many expressing disappointment in the XSOLEIL member for using the ableist slur.
She later apologized for using the language, saying she was not aware of the meaning due to her cultural background.
“I’ve seen some posts about the words that I said in my prior stream,” she said. “I hope these words reach you because your words reached me. They really helped me understand what situation I was in. It made me realize and gave me knowledge about what mistake I made.
“If you are around in my streams a lot, I am sometimes very unaware of the memes. I remember me not knowing some of the dirty puns or the Twitch words. I know how to speak the language, but I’m not up to date with the culture.
“This is going to sound like I’m making excuses, but what I wanted to say was I was very unaware. I remember the word. I think I learned it through a friend, and the meaning of it is very different from the meaning people told me on the internet yesterday.
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“I want to make my stream enjoyable for everyone. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I think I did, and I let people down. I wish I could go up to them, person by person, and say I’m sorry. But the situation wouldn’t be [made] right that way.
“I think for some people it’s a little too late. I should have probably said it earlier, but I kind of passed out after that endurance stream. I only figured it out when I woke up and was checking everything.
“I hope it reaches you — the post did reach me, so thank you so much for that. I will try my best to not mess up next time, if you do give me a next chance.”
It comes after fellow NIJISANJI EN VTuber Enna Alouette apologized for making a racist remark on stream. She said she made an “insensitive and ignorant comment on a certain stereotype”, and called the controversy a “wake up call” to act more responsibly online.
“Even though I had no malicious intent or anything, it was very wrong and 100% racist,” she said, reflecting on her actions in November.
“I’m going to make sure I’m very mindful from now on [about] how I think, how I act, and what I say. Honestly, I’ve been treading on the bounds a lot throughout my career in NIJISANJI. This honestly was a wake up call, seriously.”