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Cover Corp Addresses Harassment of hololive Virtual YouTuber Uruha Rushia

COVER Corp. released English and Japanese-language statements on Monday addressing the recent harassment of the hololive Virtual YouTuber Uruha Rushia. The company announced that it will take action against "slander and defamation" that has been directed towards Rushia within the past few days, stating that she and other hololive talents "have suffered harsh emotional stress."

Cover stated that "there has been an outburst of misleading information to third parties, as well as a leakage of information including those of fellow business correspondents." The public is asked to "refrain from further misinformation and harassment."

Cover additionally apologized for the delay in reporting the situation and stated that "We, as Cover, do not interfere with our talents' private lives."

The statement follows recent speculations around Rushia's relationship status after the talent allegedly received a Discord message from the male utaite (online-based singer) Mafumafu while on stream. Mafumafu addressed the allegations in a tweet last Friday obliquely referring to Rushia: "I became good friends with that person through games. Last night, I made contact to play a game together. I am sorry for the discomfort I caused to many people. It is not true that we live together."

Uruha Rushia is a 3rd generation hololive talent who debuted on July 18, 2019. Her official English profile describes her as "a necromancer from the Underworld Academy who is not good at communicating with people. She does not want to be alone, however, which is why she talks to the spirits and the damned."

According to Playboard's data on YouTube's Superchat statistics, Rushia is currently the world's top Superchat earner of all time. As of February 14, 2022, she has earned approximately 379 million yen (US$3.2 million) in total. She earned 17 million yen (almost US$150,000) in January alone.

One of Rushia's running jokes is to roleplay as a "yandere" when her viewers mention other hololive streamers in the chat. For her 2022 birthday celebrations, the popular VTuber is selling a host of limited-edition merchandise, including handwritten autographs and a "lifelong engagement ring."

The first generation of hololive performers debuted in 2018. Over 50 Virtual YouTubers currently belong to hololive. The talents perform using intricate 2D and 3D avatars provided by the company. In 2020, COVER Corp. unveiled the measures it is taking against harassment of the talents. The company intends to pursue legal action against anonymous posters who make threatening actions and/or breaches of privacy. It has also opened a contact form for users to report abusive behavior they have witnessed.

Source: COVER Corp. official website