The YouTube VTuber, Riro Ronwas fired by Idol Corp due to activities considered “dangerous”. The announcement was made on social media following an internal investigation into the VTuber’s recent actions. Although he debuted on the English branch of Idol Corp in February of this year and amassed more than 57,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, he had recently apologized for hosting fan meet-ups and took a break to take care of his mental health.
Idol Corp announced the immediate dismissal of Riro due to multiple contractual violations, including misuse of controlled substances, private meetings with fans, and a secret relationship with a staff member. The agency will close its YouTube channel and cancel all memberships on January 1, 2024, offering refunds to fans for merchandise and donations during its final event.
An excerpt from the statement writes:
- Regarding Riro Ron’s actions that led to this dismissal, it has been discovered through an internal investigation that Riro Ron has violated his contract and has engaged in activities that are dangerous and detrimental to both his own well-being and the company. Through our investigation we have been able to confirm that Riro Ron violated his contract in the following ways:
- Misuse of controlled substances during live broadcast performances.
- Solicit fans during live streams of member content for private offline encounters.
- Meeting a fan in person and accepting gifts from said fan totaling thousands of dollars.
- Maintain a secret relationship with a member of the idol’s management team, who has also been fired after the confirmation of these details.
- These actions have breached the trust essential to our continued management and support of Riro Ron, which has led us to make the decision to terminate his contract. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this announcement may cause and appreciate your understanding.
This is not the first time that a VTubers agency has cut ties with talent. Despite fans’ surprise at Riro’s termination, some are already anticipating his return as an independent VTuber, following the path of other creators who left previous agencies. However, the possibility of Idol Corp owning Riro Ron’s brand and identity could influence its future name. Although VTubers terminations are challenging, the growing popularity of the medium offers opportunities to flourish even after such challenges.
And of course, the comments were immediate, especially from those who do not want to believe the agency:
- «Wow, so streamers in need of attention have now also taken the form of VTubers».
- «The manager they fired is apparently Tomer, since he’s also not in their Discord now. That was their Lead Talent Manager, it doesn’t exactly look good for the corporation as a whole».
- «So she had a relationship with the staff, had private rooms for fans who paid memberships, and met with a fan who gave her gifts worth thousands of dollars. From the looks of it, she may have used her image to personally make more money without IdolCorp’s knowledge or approval.».
- «Honestly, I’m not surprised about the banned substances, she literally decided to take a sleeping pill to be more “dumb.” Sooner or later that thing would have ended up screwing her up to some degree. That being said, she would probably go back to her previous character and continue doing her previous content. Hopefully she takes this as a lesson to be more professional and that boundaries exist for a reason. I wish him well».
- «The most insane firing in history, what the hell was this woman thinking?».
- «Many of the VTubers are fired for breaking the contract in terms of revealing information, but Riro was fired for drugs, sex and alcohol».
- «I’m new to idols in English and I don’t know them very well but… Those reasons for dismissal read the same as if they were for a bassist of a rock group from the 80s».
- «Oh. Some crazy accusations. I guess Idol Corp was obligated to offer an immediate layoff at some point, but this one might top them all».
- «I like to imagine that they are all connected and she and her manager had another member as a dealer. What a wild firing, props to Idol Corp for their transparency in all this information».
- «I can’t believe she literally did everything schizophrenics assume all VTubers do. Absolutely wild, the true queen of “I want attention”».
- «This is like a list of what streamers in general should not do, not just vtubers. Shit, that’s wild».
- «Of course, the craziest VTuber layoff had to happen in 2023. This year was crazy. Please, no more surprises! It’s almost December».
Fountain: reddit
