Streamers Who Were Attacked Mid-Stream

Streaming is often more dangerous than people realize. An effective livestream requires equal parts performance and personality. Stretching one's attention between gameplay and entertainment for the audience can be an overwhelming process, both physically and mentally. Streamers will often use noise-canceling headphones just to make sure that the outside world is purposefully tuned out.

However, tuning out the outside world won't necessarily prevent it from invading at any point. Livestreaming means the camera is pretty much always on — there is no "cut-to-commerical" when the broadcast starts heading south.

Over the years, a number of wild incidents have been caught on camera by streamers, including actual attacks. Some of these moments have been unexpectedly painful and traumatic, while others are more lighthearted. The one thing they all have in common is that they were broadcast for thousands to see.

WARNING: This article includes videos and stories which may be disturbing for some viewers. Reader discretion is heavily advised.

Valkyrae, Cinna, and Emire all experienced one of the most terrifying things that can happen to any streamer in March 2025. The three content creators were in Santa Monica doing an IRL stream as part of a marathon. A man approached the trio and started pressuring Emiru to give him her contact info. She refused while trying to walk away, but the man said that he would keep following her. Eventually things took a sharp turn, and he threatened to kill the women. He chased them as they ran and shouted for security.

Fortunately, none of the women were harmed, and the man left the scene. "I'll never be out without a taser/pepper gun ever again," Valkyrae later wrote on X. Emiru also made a post after the incident, writing, "I wish I could say this was some kind of one in a million incident, but the truth is, it is not. This is what life is like for girls." Valkyrae and Cinna told fans in an emotional follow-up stream that the police were looking for the man, and that they intended to aid the investigation in any way possible. 

Jack Doherty is another streamer who's no stranger to controversy. Many people remember him as the guy who livestreamed himself crashing a $250,000 McLaren, but that wasn't the last time Doherty became the internet's main character for a day. In January 2025, Doherty got slapped on stream, and his reaction was so extreme that it got him banned from Kick.

If you read about any of the other attacks on IRL streamers on this list, then you probably know how the Doherty attack initially played out. A stream sniper found Doherty out in the real world and approached him. The two talked briefly, but then the masked stream sniper slapped Doherty in the face and took off running into the nearest building. Doherty and his security guards chased the man and pulled him back outside, where Doherty punched him repeatedly and his guard threw the attacker into the street. The stream sniper ran away as Doherty continued to yell insults at him. 

Not long after the beatdown, Kick banned Doherty from the platform. Ironically, this ban came less than two weeks after Kick unbanned Doherty for that crashed McLaren incident. Doherty said that he was just defending himself, but Kick has a fairly strict policy against showing this kind of violence on stream.

Johnny Somali is a streamer who basically lives his life jumping from controversy to controversy, thanks to his brand of disruptive IRL streams. He's been arrested in multiple countries including Japan and Israel, and he caused quite a stir in South Korea in 2024. Somali streamed himself dancing and grinding on the Statue of Peace in Seoul, which is meant to honor the women forced into sex slavery during the Japanese occupation in World War II. He also streamed himself drinking in a convenience store and purposefully dumping noodles onto tables.

Somali ended up being charged with multiple crimes and was barred from leaving the country, but a South Korean YouTuber named Dalgeun Yu decided to take matters into his own hands. Somali was walking around the city and streaming when Yu came up and punched him in the face. Yu knocked Somali out before getting arrested, and he continued taunting Somali as police took him away. If Yu thought the attack would put Johnny Somali's antics to an end, he was wrong. Somali was arrested in South Korea once again for streaking through the streets in his underwear.

IShowSpeed isn't one to shy away from meeting fans (or anything else, really), but he got way more than he was expecting during a trip to Norway in July 2024. Speed visited the country while touring through Europe, and a massive crowd gathered outside his hotel while he was doing an IRL stream. Speed excitedly waved out to his fans from inside the hotel, but things took a turn when he tripped and injured his ankle. Speed's injury was serious enough that he needed to get to the hospital, but his fans swarmed him when he tried to get into his car. Speed and his film team barely managed to get into the car, quite literally forcing their way through the wall of people.

"This is the worst day of my life," Speed said in a video he made after the incident. He said he felt like his fans had basically attacked him, jumping on his car, throwing water at him, and pulling out chunks of his hair while he was trying to leave the hotel. "This is the scariest day of my life. I promise you. I couldn't even breathe ... Norway, I don't think I will be back, but love you all." That same day, he repeated his statement a little more forcefully on X, writing, "NEVER COMING TO F****** NORWAY AGAIN."

Dr. Disrespect is famous for his over the top antics and string of controversies. His popularity on Twitch took off in late 2018 and many considered him the face of the platform at the time. While his popularity was skyrocketing, his house was targeted by a mysterious attacker multiple times in September 2018.

The first attack levied against Dr. Disrespect's house was not live streamed. According to local authorities, his Porsche sedan had its windows shot out around 7:15am on September 10 by a BB gun and the local authorities were notified. The next day, while livestreaming, Dr. Disrespect's house had its upstairs window shot out in a drive-by incident.

After investigating the sounds for a minute, Dr. Disrespect came back on camera and broke character on-stream, "I've got to end the broadcast right now. Someone shot at our house, broke the f***ing upstairs window." The Doc was visibly and understandably shaken up by the situation, quickly logging off. 

Shortly after, Dr. Disrespect resumed streaming on a regular basis and assured his viewers that the local authorities were working on the case. Although no culprits were seemingly found, Dr. Disrespect has not experienced any further attacks to the knowledge of his viewers.

A viral reddit thread from October 2021 reminded many viewers of an altercation between a drunk stepfather and his son on stream. Originally posted and deleted back on Twitch in July of 2020 (per Dextero) streamer Silky White's intense bout of family drama occurred while he was in queue for a "Valorant" game.

The 5-minute clip starts in the middle of the confrontation, during which Silky White and his stepfather are shouting at each other about money. Many parents and those from older generations might find the profitability of streaming to be unbelievable, let alone consider it a career choice. It seems Silky White's stepfather is from that group, accusing him of doing inappropriate things in front of the camera and not having a real job.

Further in the clip, it becomes more clear that the familial relationships being torn apart on-screen had been fraying for some time. "You've already lost us," Silky White tragically shouted at his stepfather. The situation seemingly escalated further off-screen, as Silky White can last be seen launching himself off of his gaming chair and towards his stepfather.

After the clips initial popularity in 2020, Silky White confirmed on Twitter that he was okay, but he was "sorry for everyone who found [him] this way." Introductions are already tough, but having a painful family event catalyze popularity can't feel good.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Back in 2016, "Pokemon Go" brought gamers out of their houses and into the grand outdoors. However, news outlets were quick to raise the alarms of safety hazards for the game's players. The lack of spatial awareness caused by the game led to scary incidents like a cop car being struck live on camera by a driver playing Pokemon Go. Another such incident happened to RickeyBot, a blogger who was mugged live on-stream. 

According to Ricketybot, that fateful night was only the ninth time he had ever streamed. The attack is unsettling to watch, to say the least. RickeyBot can be seen walking down a well-lit street at night, trying to catch Pokemon, when a person starts to lurk behind him. Soon after, the assailant punches an unsuspecting RicketBot from behind, knocking him and his equipment to the ground. RickeyBot was using 3 phones as his streaming and playing set-up, all of which were taken by the assailant, who ran off just seconds after the attack.

Afterwards, RickeyBot said in an interview that he just felt "lucky to be alive," and that he was grateful only the phones were taken from him. As reported by Kotaku, to add insult to injury, RickeyBot's Twitch account was even temporarily suspended for streaming the event, which was deemed by Twitch to be a "Non-Gaming Content" violation.

In one of the most terrifying livestreamed home invasions, the house of streamer msbandiit was robbed at gunpoint during a Twitch stream. In June 2021, msbandiit and her husband were playing games online with family friend Jaco Viljoen while streaming "Call of Duty: Warzone" when the armed robbery occurred.

As can be seen in the livestream, the armed invaders burst into the room and made msbandiit and her husband get on the ground. Their hands and feet were subsequently bound with shoelaces and electrical cords, while msbandiit's husband's head was covered. Even worse, the couple's kids were right down the hallway and they were also brought forced to lie on the ground at gunpoint. As the family was held hostage the robbers loaded up a getaway car with plasma TVs, laptops, electronics, and car keys.

Jaco Viljoen, meanwhile, thought it a good idea to check on his friends after they'd suddenly gone silent, convincing local property security to come with him. Their noisy presence scared off the intruders, who ran away without their getaway car. A few days later, the car keys and phones that had been stolen were recovered not far from the property.

Msbandiit described the event to Pretoria Rekord as, "a terrible ordeal. You never know whether they are going to shoot you or not. When they covered my husband's face, I thought they were going to shoot him." Peace of mind is hard to restore after an incident like that, but thankfully nobody was hurt and nothing ended up lost or stolen.

When streaming in the wee hours of the morning, one would not expect to have any disturbances. Not before the world wakes up. However, that was not the case for Twitch streamer JayKirky. On December 4, 2020, his house was broken into while he was streaming "Resident Evil: Resistance."

As the haunting clip begins, JayKirky responds to some loud banging he hears from his doorway, even remarking that "It sounds like someone is trying to break in." As Jaykirky gets up to investigate off-camera, he reportedly sees a man with a black ski mask holding a machete outside his door. A loud shattering of glass and an off-screen scuffle can be heard. A panicked JayKirky can be heard pleading with the home invader, who suddenly realize he's not the person they were after.

Explaining the situation to his viewers in a later YouTube video, JayKirky said, "I thought I was going to die." According to GameRant, JayKirky was apparently living in a shady neighborhood and was saving up money to move out — specifically to avoid situations like this one.

Of all the on-stream attacks, Mr. Big (also known by his handle Mr_13ig) might be one of the most well-documented. In October 2015, Mr. Big's viewers witnessed a series of altercations with neighbors and police that led to him losing his shoes, headphones, cellphone, lighter, and wallet. According to a report from Vice, Mr. Big was arrested and robbed on the same night, adding insult to injury.

The altercation began when some bad blood was rekindled with a neighbor. As seen in the video of the incident, a knock at Mr. Big's door prompts the streamer to yell out in response, "I will scream 'freedom' all night long!" About an hour later, another knock on the door arrives, sounding a bit less friendly. Instead of an upset neighbor, now a cop is at his front door investigating a noise complaint levied against Mr. Big. What follows is a somewhat hilarious back-and-forth between Mr. Big and the police officer, debating the rights and responsibilities of each party in the situation. 

Eventually, the officer apparently reaches his breaking point and arrests Mr. Big, escorting him outside. However, the police officer and Mr. Big forget to close the door, leaving the opportunity for a shady intruder to immediately come in and peruse Mr. Big's belongings. Not knowing that his deed was being livestreamed, this neighbor quickly grabbed as many valuables as possible and scurried away. Since the event was livestreamed with video proof, all of the stolen goods were recovered for Mr. Big.

Back in 2015, while playing a casual round of "Dota 2," Twitch streamer and esports caster Sajedene and her partner had their house broken into at gunpoint. The pair were robbed as Sajdene continued to stream. Although not much of the incident can be seen on-camera, the robbery still is terrifying to watch and hear.

In the viral clip, Sajedene is alerted to a loud noise coming from outside her room. She gets up to investigate and within seconds, the door bursts open and a panicked altercation between the gunman and the couple ensues. While off-camera, Sajedene and her partner are instructed to stay on the ground as the robbery is carried out. At this point, the gunman appears in the frame looking frantically about the house, completely oblivious to the camera live streaming his actions. The whole incident only lasts for a few minutes and the couple made it through without any physical injuries.

According to a report by Kotaku, one of the culprits was apprehended in a foot chase shortly after the robbery, while the other assailant escaped police custody. The reason the police were able to show up so quickly, however, was because one of Sajedene's European viewers called the local authorities in Tempe, Arizona, when they saw what was happening live.

Not every livestream attack comes from human beings. A longtime content creator known for playing "World of Warcraft" and other MMORPGs, StaysafeTV is used to settling in for long hours of play. During those longer streams, it can be hard to stay aware of all one's surroundings — especially if the back door is accidentally left open for wandering strangers.

About 10 hours into a "New World" stream, StaysafeTV was surprised to learn that an outdoor adventurer has decided to come into his house. In the clip, it's easy for viewers to see a squirrel lurking in the background before finally scurrying up towards StaysafeTV. As soon as he sees the squirrel he freaks out a bit, shouting, "There is a squirrel in my house! There is a squirrel in my house! What the f***!"

StasafeTV tries his best to chase the squirrel out of his house, but the animale doesn't react how he predicts. Instead of scurrying away when chased, the squirrel launches itself at StaysafeTV, making him fall back in astonishment. No damage was done and the squirrel was eventually able to get back outside, but not before putting a scare into StaysafeTV and proving you should always close the back door before locking in for long gaming sessions.

In another case of leaving the backdoor open to outside invaders, Lynchy was visited by an uninvited guest when he was trying to let his puppy outside to use the bathroom. 

"Valorant" is a pretty attention-consuming game, requiring players to always be on the edge of their seat. This heightened awareness can be seen getting thrown all out of wack as Lynchy tries to maintain focus on the match when a magpie flies into his room.

Lynchy tries to play off magpie's initial swoop as little more than a hilarious intervention. He puts his headset back on after being dumbfounded for a second, but he tries to regain focus on the game, the magpie launches its final assault. Instead of lapping around the room or back out the doorway, the magpie decides to fly directly into Lynchy's face, headshotting the streamer and knocking his headset off once again. Bewildered and amused, Lynchy immediately quips, "somebody clip that!" Someone did, and this moment will live forever in annals of livestreamed animal ambushes.

Reydempto is an American IRL streamer who lives in Bangkok. Before that, Redeympto spent more than a decade living in Amsterdam, and that's where he was living he started streaming. Fans enjoyed watched his progress in learning the language and exploring his new home, but one night they witnessed a violent attack.

In February 2022 Reydempto was doing one of his normal streams while walking around the city with his camera on a selfie stick. Reydempto pointed out a nearby police station and commented on how safe the area was, but then seconds later a man saw Reydempto was streaming, approached him, and grabbed him by the neck. As Reydempto started yelling at him to let go, the man said into the camera that he was going to kill the streamer. At that moment, the stream cut out, and Redeympto's fans were left looking at a black screen.

Fortunately, Reydempto ended up being mostly uninjured. He let his fans know that he was safe when he got home and said that he planned to file a police report in the morning. The very next day, the Amsterdam police posted that they'd identified a suspect in the case.

Streaming isn't supposed to be dangerous, but IRL streams open the door to all kinds of unexpected encounters. Stream snipers or obsessive fans can chase a content creator down, while sometimes total strangers can get worked up about the possibility of being on camera. That's seemingly what happened in July 2023, when a stranger in the streets of Bangkok punched Kick streamer Gorit in the face.

Girit was streaming a walk along a beach at night when a nearby man got bothered that Girit was filming. Girit tried to explain that he hadn't gotten the man on camera, but the two ended up yelling profanities and flipping each other off. Girit walked away, only for the man to call him back over. As Girit and the stranger stared each other down, another man approached and punched Girit in the face. Girit's nose started bleeding profusely as he fled the area.

The police were eventually called and all three men were taken into custody. None of them faced serious consequences, though Girit was fined for filming in public. That ultimately didn't dissuade him from his streaming work, and he's still creating IRL content to this day.

Airi Sato was a 22-year-old Japanese YouTuber who mostly streamed IRL content for her fans. In March 2025, Sato was streaming herself walking around Tokyo when she was attacked by a 42 year old man named Kenji Takano. 6,000 people were watching the stream when Takano stabbed Sato with a knife multiple times as she called for help.

Sato was taken to the hospital, but it wasn't long before she was pronounced dead. The police arrested Takano, who said he had traveled 160 miles from Oyama and had found Sato the way any stream sniper does: by watching her channel. Takano said that he'd discovered Sato through her streams, but that the two of them had developed a relationship that involved him lending her money. Sato allegedly owed Takano thousands of dollars, and he had previously taken her to court to try and get back. Takano claimed that he hadn't intended to kill Sato, especially not with so many people watching. This absolutely terrifying tragedy is one of the most disturbing incidents of an on-camera attack in streaming history.