[Ed note: This article discusses domestic abuse.]
Popular Twitch streamer and OnlyFans content creator Amouranth said in an impassioned, tearful stream on Saturday that she is being manipulated and abused by her husband. Amouranth, whose real name is Kaitlyn Siragusa, said her husband, who was not named, has forced her to stream, threatened to hurt her dogs, and has taken control of her finances and bank account.
“I’m basically living in a fancy prison,” Amouranth said on the live stream.
Amouranth’s stream has since been removed from Twitch, but clips of it have been shared widely on Twitter and YouTube.
Amouranth has revealed that she has a husband, along with revealing his abuse
He has threatened to kill her dogs, take all their money, and forced her to stream.
(1/4) pic.twitter.com/9tdL0S3Udd
— GUARD Hunter (@HUN2R) October 16, 2022
During the live stream, Amouranth said that her husband saw the hot tub meta — a Twitch sub-genre where people stream in bikinis while in a hot tub — “as an opportunity,” and that he told told her to tell viewers that she was single, because it would “ruin the business model” to reveal she was married.
Amouranth shared a close-up view of a phone displaying a text thread that she said is between her and her husband. The depicted messages call the recipient a “dumb fuck” and include threats to “dump luggage,” throw “merch” off a balcony, and delete Amouranth’s social media. More serious threats of financial abuse and threats to kill Amouranth’s dog are also part of the texts. Amouranth also shared footage of a broken doorknob, saying that her husband broke it, thus preventing her from being able to lock the door.
“[It] keeps you there with the fear and the threats, and you fear that he’s going to do something to your animals,” Amouranth said on the stream. “And then he’s nice again and says, ‘Everything’s going to be OK.’”
In the stream, Amouranth also spoke on the phone with a man who she said is her husband. The man’s voice could be heard shouting at her and denying that he said he was going to kill her dog. “I’m going to give you one last chance,” the man on the line said. “I’m going to irrevocably fucking destroy everything.”
On Monday, Amouranth’s content lead Marz tweeted that Amouranth “says she’s fine,” adding “Police went multiple times since 5am yesterday.”
Latest update on Kait/Amouranth: ppl on the team were able to talk to her and she says she’s fine
Police went multiple times since 5am yesterday; She says she’s OK so they can’t do much
She spent all day talking to her husband to sort things out
Not sure what else we can do rn
— marz (@TheRealMarzbar) October 17, 2022
Popular streamer Ludwig Ahgren said in a video that he reached out to Amouranth’s assistant, and that she is “safe and OK.”
Polygon has reached out via email to Amouranth, as well as her content lead Marz, for comment, but has not yet received a response.
Amouranth is an extremely popular content creator with a presence on numerous platforms including Twitch, YouTube, and OnlyFans. She started her Twitch channel in 2016 with a cosplay focus. Since then, her channel has grown to 5.9 million Twitch followers, and spans from video game streams to Just Chatting videos. According to Streams Charts, she’s the most-watched Twitch streamer this year. She’s also extremely popular on OnlyFans. Her ASMR YouTube channel has more than 640,000 followers, and her online presence also includes Patreon, Instagram, Twitter, Fansly, and Snapchat accounts.
Amouranth works hard to maintain these various channels. In August, she told Business Insider that she’s only taken 10 days off in the last few years. She regularly streams for long stretches, including some 15-hour Twitch streams. In July, Amouranth shared a tweet with an image of her monthly earnings from March through July 2022, which average around $1.5 million per month.
Throughout her career, Amouranth has experienced harassment and doxing threats on these content platforms. YouTubers like PewDiePie have referred to her and other women as “Twitch thots,” a derogatory term used to insult female streamers and sex workers.
Harassment of Amouranth gained momentum as the hot tub meta took off in 2021. Twitch’s terms have an exception to the Nudity and Attire Policy, which states that “streamers may appear in swimwear in contextually appropriate situations.” In May 2021, Twitch created the “Pools, Hot Tubs and Beaches” category for such streams.
In June 2021, Polygon interviewed Amouranth about the hot tub meta and the harassment she has faced: “I have thought about it — like, is it worth it? I really do think it is because every job has its stresses.” She also told Polygon that she had different hopes for the future beyond streaming, and that she hoped to use her savings to someday open an animal rescue.
“My passion, at the end of the day, is animals,” she said.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing abuse at home, the national domestic abuse hotline is available 24 hours a day. Call 800-799-7233 for help.
