
The vtuber Elara faced the wrath of many in the vtuber community after she brought serious allegations to the limelight, and Jaxon has secured an interview with the virtual news anchor.
Elara shared accusations that were publicly made to raise concerns about the serious incident. However, the victims of the incident and their supporters criticized the vtuber for bringing their identity and trauma to the spotlight. The vtuber removed the video from her YouTube channel, but maintained that she had no malicious intentions and that the posts were already public. Elara found support in some for talking about the SA accusations but others argued that Elara had no consent or right to name the victims in her video.
Jaxon connected with Elara to get her views on the controversy and share them with the vtuber community.
What was your primary goal in sharing details about the allegations?
My goal as I always do when covering news is to inform and educate viewers. I think it’s important to share this information with a wider audience so they can protect themselves from potential risk and harm.
Multiple figures in the vtuber community have spoken out against you. Are there any names you were surprised to speak against you?
I was quite shocked by the overall reaction though I cannot say there was anyone specific that surprised me. Having done coverage of similar situations before, this was the first time I had received such backlash. I often find the loudest voices are often the most negative and I saw plenty of support from others who took the time to look into the situation a bit further.
Do you regret bringing the situation to the limelight or are you glad you made your decision?
I am still glad I talked about the situation and brought a dangerous person into the spotlight. Anyone who takes advantage of someone else in a weakened or altered state should rightfully be called out.
You stated in your comment on Salvi’s YouTube video that you didn’t message Saymmi for consent, so why did you take the video down?
Before the video went live I had messaged Saymmi to send her a bit of positivity after reading through her story. I believe she misunderstood this message as permission for coverage when that was not the case. Per her request, she asked the video be taken down and I wanted to honor that. My goal is to support the victims in any way I can and if this was her wish, I was more than happy to oblige.
You’ve covered SA allegations before, but after this reaction, do you plan to change how you cover such topics?
I am always learning and improving my content to not only bring information to my viewers but also to uphold integrity and empathy when addressing topics. Going forward, I am considering removing/redacting people’s names in similar stories and opening up charitable donation opportunities for viewers in future news coverage.
Have you had any contact with Caleb since the start of the incident?
I have been unable to reach them. I imagine with the current allegations they would decline to provide any further statements other than the apology they already issued.
If you could go back in time and redo the video, what would you change? Would you even cover the situation if you knew about the backlash it would get?
As far as the video goes, I was very happy with the final result. It was covered with a great deal of care and empathy as well as a rally of support for the victims. As “newstubers” we are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to certain types of news. Sadly, there are instances where we can be made to look like we are taking advantage of people by reporting on it even though our intentions are pure.
How would you respond to Missus Mummy’s statement that the vtuber community lacks compassion?
I cannot speak for the community as a whole but only for myself. I try to the best of my ability to cover each and every story with the care that it deserves. I am disappointed to see my coverage which was created with good intentions be warped into a negative narrative. It takes away from the victims’ stories since we are no longer focused on the topic at hand, but rather the debate of coverage.
Any final statements regarding the incident?
I was upset to see Saymmi was not communicative about the issue as she posted the DM I sent without responding. I am always happy to have a discussion even if our viewpoints are different but I believe the disagreement was handled poorly. Other vtuber news outlets have covered the story as well but no commentary was made towards these other parties.
I was saddened to see that Saymmi believed my video was put out just to gain views (In the brief time the video was out, it only garnered about 3k views before being privated.) In light of this, I made a donation to the largest anti-sexual violence organization: RAINN. The amount is much more than I made off of any revenue while the video was live, plus a bit more.
I’m sorry to the victims of Caleb and I hope you are able to heal through the awful things you were put through.
Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Thank you for your continued support! I am so lucky to have such an amazing community and everything I do is for you! I’ll keep pushing and trying to be the best reporter for vtuber news I can be.
Thanks for reaching out and have a great day!
Elara
Thank you very much to Elara for the exclusive interview with Jaxon.
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