Twitch streamerArcadum has been accused of sexual harassment by several members of his community.- Over 21 Twitlonger statements have been released in the past week from former collaborators.
- The streamer responded in his own statement that he "never engaged in nonconsensual activity."
A Twitch streamer who gained a following for playing
Streamer Jeremy Black, known online as Arcadum, pushed back on allegations of emotional manipulation and sexual harassment from nearly two dozen individuals in a statement Thursday.
Over the course of the past week, 21 streamers and colleagues who worked or collaborated with Black released Twitlonger statements detailing their alleged experiences with him. The allegations ranged from Black masturbating while on a call to forcing a woman up against a wall to kiss her.
Black, who has over 240,000 followers on Twitch and ran a virtual reality roleplay world called Callous Row, works with popular streamers like Michael Reeves, LilyPichu, and Moon Moon, as well as traditional celebrities like Felicia Day.
Black had created a network of volunteer artists, coders, and community members who helped him run his Dungeon and Dragons campaigns and Callous Row roleplay sessions.
Some members of that community alleged that Black used his position to pressure women into emotionally and sexually gratifying him.
Three women claim that Black sexually harassed them online and in virtual reality
Multiple women said Black sexually harassed them on Discord or the video game VRChat, where users can control the bodies of avatars using virtual reality controllers and headsets. Most of the women Black engaged with were VTuber streamers, who use virtual avatars controlled with face and body tracking technology. None of those who shared their stories released their real names and many of the stories that happened in-game were not recorded and lack corroboration.
-Arcadum (@GloriousArcadum) September 2, 2021
Kelli Siren, a Twitch streamer with 17,000 followers, wrote that she had been a close friend of Black's for 3 years. She said that while in a VR Chat call, Black would comment on her character's breasts and ask "could he touch them." She wrote he would ask her to "help him find sexual release" and she "got really tired of the random requests to do sexual stuff" after she said she denied his requests multiple times.
"I said yes sometimes, because I would just get tired of dealing with the constant asking," Siren wrote. "I was afraid he'd drop our friendship. I was afraid of him."
Siren describes his actions as "harassing" in the Twitlonger and shared purported Discord messages where Black appeared to coerce her into sexual activity (Insider was unable to confirm the authenticity of these messages).
"The longer I knew him, the more pain and paranoia he brought to my life," Siren wrote.
Siren did not respond to questions by publication time.
UzuriMia, a Twitch streamer with 11,000 followers , wrote in her statement that Black would ask her for VR "lap dances" in June 2020 (she told Insider she had an extra hip and foot tracker that allowed her to dance). She claimed in the statement that one month later, Black asked for "erotic roleplay" from her. She told him she wasn't interested and they stopped talking shortly after. She told Insider that she would classify his actions as "harassment" because "I told him I wasn't comfortable doing sexual things with him and he would push and push repeatedly until I firmly said no and shut it down completely."
"I was honestly scared of making things awkward or getting kicked out of RP or him just not being my friend anymore," UzuriMia wrote.
Lyra121, a VRChat avatar creator, said in her statement that Black asked for "personal lap dances." Lyra121 declined to comment.
Twitch streamer Remi The Siren, who has 22,000 followers, wrote in her statement that Black "asked me if I was okay with him masturbating while he was on a call with me and if I could help him" which she said made her "EXTREMELY uncomfortable." She wrote that she felt pressured to oblige since she was a member of his campaign and was "holding money and a spot in the D&D group over my head." Remi did not return a request for comment.
"Once he finished himself off he said he was tired and just kinda wrapped up our voice call," Remi The Siren wrote.
Momo, a VTuber with over 200,000 Twitch followers wrote that she believed she was "groomed" by Black and that he "twisted me to always believe his words, no matter what we talked about." Momo did not return a request for comment.
One allegation took place off the internet. Folkona said in a Google Doc statement that she was "sexually assaulted" by Black in November 2019. She claimed that she invited him to her home for a weekend and he had asked for a "hug" which "led to him forcing me up against the wall" and "he started kissing my neck and trying to hide it behind crying." Folkona did not return a request for comment.
Many of the other statements echoed similar accusations against Black.
Black responded in a Twitlonger after the allegations spread online
After the Twitlongers about Black's alleged behavior were posted, the CMO of influencer agency NOVO Devin Nash, posted his own Twitlonger to announce that Black would be dropped as a client.
-Devin (@DevinNash) August 31, 2021
In Black's Thursday response, the streamer wrote that he "developed and engaged in a wide range of relationships with people over the years'' and that he "never engaged in nonconsensual activity." He wrote that his fiance Tiffany Tiefling found out last week about sexual messages Black sent other women.
"This was a painful experience, and as a result, I have learned and reckoned with many of the mistakes I have made," Black wrote. "I will not be streaming as I continue to reflect on my actions and seek therapy for personal issues I have struggled with for some time."
Tiefling on a Wednesday live stream said that she "read through" the direct message conversations Black was having with women on Discord and distanced herself from him "the moment I saw proof."
"The initial women involved got together following Arcadum banning a bunch of us from various servers," NaomiOop, one of the women who released a statement and a Twitch streamer with 80,000 followers, told Insider. "We noticed, put two and two together, and then realized just... how... many... of us there were."
A representative for Black declined to comment on the specifics of this story.