Selen Tatsuki Controversy
Selen Tatsuki, one of three Livers of Nijisanji EN's Obsydia wave, was terminated on 5 February 2024. Anycolor stated that she had violated the company's internal rules and damaged the company's reputation in an incident regarding Tatsuki's song cover of LilyPichu's "last cup of coffee," where Tatsuki uploaded the cover without permission and urged fans to reupload it after the company had temporarily unpublished it.[1] The approval of the video portion had been delayed due to the inclusion of former Nijisanji Livers.[2]
Tatsuki responded via her alternate account Dokibird.[citation needed] The last post on Tatsuki's Nijisanji Twitter account had stated that she had been hospitalized;[citation needed] Dokibird stated that she attempted suicide, which led to her hospitalization.[citation needed]
The termination sparked controversy online. Some creators who had worked with Tatsuki stated that she had paid them through her personal account while waiting for payment from the company.[3] On 7 February, Nijisanji released an investor relations statement stating that the decision to terminate Selen Tatsuki would have a "negligible" effect on its finances.[4] Later, HYTE, a custom PC case and accessory maker, announced that it had terminated its current projects with Nijisanji in response to the situation.[5][6]
On 12 February, Nijisanji EN Liver Elira Pendora premiered a YouTube video addressing the situation. In the video, Elira and two other Livers, Vox Akuma and Ike Eveland, claimed that the company had been receiving documents from Selen's lawyer that contained untrue accusations and personal information on other Livers, which raised concerns of doxxing. They reiterated the claim that Selen had posted the cover without waiting for permission from management and that it was set to be rereleased once approved, showing a screenshot of a partial Slack conversation. Some Livers reached out to Selen regarding her reaction to the incident, which was allegedly cited by Selen's lawyers as part of the bullying and harassment allegations. Vox and Ike expressed that they felt hurt and sad by the contents of the documents made by someone they "considered a good friend". In particular, Vox stated that the document cited a secretly recorded voice call as evidence of favoritism within the agency.[7] Overall, this statement was received poorly on the internet, with many accusing the talents of reading from a script and questioning why the video was posted ahead of an official statement from management.[8] The scheduled release of the video coincided with Dokibird's first stream; Dokibird ended the stream early to converse with her lawyer. Dokibird made a Tweet in response to the video asserting that the document was not supposed to be shared outside of the legal department, and speculated whether confidential information had been incorrectly shared,[9] which could also violate privacy law. On 13 February, both parties revealed that nothing confidential had been disclosed.[10][11] Dokibird expanded on her response on 14 February, apologizing for her inclusion of the recording of Vox in the document and expressed her sentiment of wanting to move on and for the public to not inquire about further details.[12]
Later that day, Anycolor CEO Riku Tazumi released a statement addressing the controversy via the Nijisanji EN Official YouTube channel.[13][14] He clarified that the investor relations statement was meant only for investors, but acknowledged that the language used was inappropriate.[14]
Our wording lacked consideration for the situation and caused NIJISANJI EN fans and everyone who supports the VTuber industry to feel that ANYCOLOR Inc. undervalued the impact of Selen’s contract termination, or Selen herself. I deeply regret this outcome and will be rethinking how our communication in English is done.
— Riku Tazumi, Addressing Your Concerns
He also stated the importance of Tatsuki in cultivating the growth of Nijisanji. In terms of cultivating a safe environment, Tazumi acknowledged that the conflict has not only affected them as a company but also the overall well-being of their talents.[14] Tazumi also acknowledged the lack of content in Nijisanji EN and promised to work on it by recruiting more staff to this division to aid in the agency's other content offerings aside from the typical content. Lastly, he commented that talents are "irreplaceable" and that beyond business partners, they are the most important individuals that they must protect as a company.
- ^ @NIJISANJI_World (February 5, 2024). "【Notice: Termination of Selen Tatsuki's Contract with ANYCOLOR】 We hereby announce that we have had to make the difficult decision to terminate our contract with the NIJISANJI EN Liver 'Selen Tatsuki' effective immediately, due to repeated breaches of contract and misleading statements on social platforms. Attached is the detailed explanation of the circumstances that led to this decision being taken. Thank you for your understanding and continuous support of NIJISANJI and NIJISANJI EN" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-02-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ "A Message from NIJISANJI EN". YouTube. 2024-02-12. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ "Selen Tatsuki's Termination Sparks Controversy; Nijisanji Claims It Will Have "Negligible Financial Effects"". Anime Corner. 2024-02-07. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Impact of the decision to terminate the affiliation contract with the NIJISANJI EN Liver on our financial results" (PDF). ANYCOLOR Inc. ANYCOLOR Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ^ "In Regards To Our NIJISANJI EN Collaboration Project". HYTE. HYTE. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Hashimoto, Kazuma (2024-02-08). "VTuber Selen Tatsuki's Nijisanji termination creates uproar and backlash". Polygon. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "A Message from NIJISANJI EN". YouTube. 2024-02-12. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
- ^ Liu, Stephanie (February 12, 2024). "Elira, Vox, and Ike of Nijisanji EN Make Statement About Selen". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
- ^ @dokibird (February 13, 2024). "I will say that it never supposed to be shown to anyone other than me, my lawyer and other relevant lawyers. It was a private document with my own personal information and was used as a legal document to help my lawyer and document my thoughts + was never supposed to release anywhere else to any other parties outside of legal department. It makes me wonder if my medical and hospital records was also released without my consent as that was also promised to me to be kept private" (Tweet). Retrieved 2024-02-15 – via Twitter.
- ^ @dokibird (February 13, 2024). "I am currently talking to my lawyer and thankfully only my diagnosis and reason for hospital stay was reported without further private info being disclosed. It was requested that none of this info should be revealed to anyone other than legal. Thank you everyone for the support, I really wish things didn't have to go this way, I didn't say anything more and I was ready to move on and start a new life" (Tweet). Retrieved 2024-02-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ @NIJISANJI_World (February 13, 2024). "Regarding concerns that have arisen in relation to the current situation" (Tweet). Retrieved 2024-02-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ @dokibird (February 14, 2024). "I was ready to move on, I had made my last statement and I haven't looked at anything regarding my past for a full week. I didn't look at anything regarding legal documents or anything regarding my situation since I moved back to Doki. I wanted to be hopeful for the future and never interact with that side again. So to see it all come back and reopen a wound that I was ready to heal from and to have to talk to my lawyer again on how to respond" (Tweet). Retrieved 2024-02-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ Addressing Your Concerns, retrieved 2024-02-17
- ^ a b c d Cambosa, Teddy (2024-02-15). "ANYCOLOR's Riku Tazumi Releases Official Statement Amid Ongoing Nijisanji Controversy". Anime Corner. Retrieved 2024-02-17.