you really can't make up the shit that's going on on the german side of youtube these days. i don't like celebrity gossip but i am genuinely invested because this has the potential to be an insanely important lesson for a lot of people.
for the uninitiated (probably everyone who follows me):
two years ago, a huge scandal was made public, with heavy accusations against german streamer AnniTheDuck ("Anni"). these accusation range from emotional abuse, manipulation, animal abuse, smear campaigns and implied SA. so, not things that should be taken lightly. it all started with Anni's ex-(friend) Mowky having an emotional outburst on a live stream, in which she finally explained how much she suffered in her friendship with Anni. take note: this was all kickstarted by a 2,50€ twitch donation asking when she'd do content with Anni again; after which she snapped. shortly after, many more people in the bubble came forward with similar stories. it was a huge deal. Anni's career was functionally over. she made two statements that were more or less ignored and/or scoffed at.
now, why am i talking about this? i have never watched either Anni's or Mowky's streams before all of this, and, like i said, i'm not normally into celebrity gossip. but this specific case i think, is important and worth talking about.
right now, through a plethora of chats between Anni and Mowky (chats that had been partially(!) shown by Mowky as evidence, but were apparently heavily censored and shortened), a completely different picture is being painted. like, basically the complete opposite of what Mowky talked about. the 2,50€ donation might have been staged. the smear campaign might actually be coming from Mowky. Mowky might have lied about a lot of stuff. Mowky might have slept with Anni's boyfriend.
right now, they're still in the middle of going through everything and adding context left and right, so honestly, who knows where this will be heading in the future.
what i wanna point out though, is how fast and violently the public can be influenced and swayed into believing what someone is telling them. and how absolutely ruthless the public will be to the perceived culprit, without even hearing them out.
and if that doesn't describe today's (online) culture, idk what does.
TW: Mentions of suicidal thoughs, mentions of manipulation, mentions of mental health!
I'm following the development of this ever since the first video of jayriddle has been uploaded.
I certainly share a similar point of view. It really is scary how easily the public can be swayed to turn against anyone. And I firmly believe that being patient, that listening to everyones side and explanation, to view everyones evidences equally and check them — preferably twice — is how we all should interact and engage with allegations of all time.
But there is also a big problem at hand: Mainly parasocial relationships paired with framing and manipulation.
The thing about the Anni vs Mowky topic is, that many people have certain bonds to their favorite creator and at that time, Anni has been a very known and loved creator. So hearing about said allegations, let alone from another creator (Mowky), who was also a famous creator at that time, hit a certain mark.
First things first: I think victims should be believed. It is important to listen to victims and their experiences and it is important to not let any kind of parasocial relationship get in the way of their credibility. Yet it troubles and hurts me so much, that many people — and especially many other big creators related to Mowky and Anni — were willingly siding with Mowky, knowing about Mowkys half-truths and lies. Creators like IfaCore, Reved, Milschbaum and Jenyan.
What troubles me the most is the sheer Hipocrisy: They present themselves as safe spaces, feminists, activists and good people, yet collectively destroy someones life in the most manipulative and thought-through way, which almost lead to Annis suicide (Gladly she is getting better now!).
It's not only that we need to keep in mind that we collectively never know the full truth, but also that we should never start a witch hunt based on whoever we like most.
Believe the victims, yes.
Make perpetrators and abusers face consequences, also yes.
But never ever start a witch hunt and drive someone so much into a financial and social ruin, that their mental health suffers THAT badly from it — regardless of how much anyone thinks that they deserve it.
Mental health is a delicate thing and once you ruined it, you won't get rid of it. It will come back and bite you in the ass. It will hunt you for the rest of your life. But it also can and will get better with time and effort and with the right people around you.
Never forget: The people behind the cameras you like? They are a role, regardless of how authentic they seem. You don't know them personally, you don't have a real history or connection to them and even if you know them or other people personally; You can only look against their forehead and not inside of it.
