VShojo is officially shutting down, CEO takes full responsibility for closure

VShojo has finally issued an official statement on its future following a flurry of controversy and drama, announcing that the vtuber agency is shutting down after multiple announcements of graduations and contract terminations by vtubers due to the agency’s failure to pay them and other dubious financial dealings.

Ironmouse’s graduation announcement spilled VShojo’s secrets of its mishandling of finances and the delaying, or complete refusal, of paying its talents. This revelation embroiled the agency in controversy and led to a massive drama in the vtuber world. Multiple VShojo content creators publicly supported Ironmouse and left the agency in solidarity.

Many ex-VShojo vtubers shared their own experiences of the agency not paying them money that was in some cases owed for years. Vtubers and the community as a whole supported the talents who were financially abused and called out VShojo for destroying the trust placed in it by so many individuals. Amidst all this the agency has remained silent, but the CEO has now spoken up, as VShojo finally issued an official statement accepting all of the allegations.

What did the VShojo CEO say?

VShojo CEO Justin “TheGunrun” Ignacio went public to say that he played a role in the failure of the agency while announcing that it’s shutting down all operations moving forward. 

The announcement was shared in a tweet on VShojo’s official X account, with Gunrun admitting that he had mismanaged the company into its eventual failure. The CEO stated he’s taking full responsibility for all of the decisions that eventually led to the company shutting down.

Twitter/X

Gunrun claims that he’s been trying to raise money for the “past few months,” but that the company’s condition has been continuously deteriorating. He blamed the company’s talent-first model as a significant element in its failure, as the CEO said that prioritizing vtubers over profits and the ensuing revenue splits caused the company to not generate enough revenue to survive. He claimed this is what led to the company ultimately running out of money and being unable to pay talents.

Gunrun talked about using Ironmouse’s charity stream’s money and said he knew that the company used the talents’ money. However, he denied knowledge of the money VShojo misappropriated being “intended for a charitable initiative.” He claims the company used the money with the hope that capital would be raised to cover its own costs. Gunrun admits that the ensuing fundraising was unsuccessful, and as it was his decision, he is responsible for the consequences.

The VShojo CEO ended the statement by apologizing to all talents, staff, friends, and the community, saying “nobody deserved this.”

The reactions of fans and vtubers have both been significantly against the CEO. Shylily called him out for spending $11 million and still expecting to be able to raise fresh capital. Some have questioned why Gunrun would use talents’ money while claiming the agency is a talent-first business. Ex-VShojo vtuber Kson questioned why talents weren’t told about the situation and only found out from others when things got so bad.