100 Thieves star Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter has opened up on why she feels like she’s “always paranoid” about streaming on Twitch, and more recently exclusively on YouTube, and how she often doesn’t feel safe online.
Internet culture is well and truly on the rise in the 21st century, and stars on Twitch, TikTok, and more are becoming celebrities in their own rights. One of those huge internet stars is newly-minted YouTube streamer Valkyrae.
According to the 28-year-old, however, there’s plenty of less than glamourous parts of her new-found fame. In particular, “death threats,” and always being “paranoid” about her safety constantly dogs her ever-growing streaming career.
Valkyrae admitted during a recent Q&A on YouTube that she often finds herself “worrying all the time about safety.” It’s one of the hardest parts of being a big-time streamer, she admitted, and it’s something the stars usually “try to ignore.”
“A lot of us on the internet, we get your stalkers, your f*ppers, and your horny teeny-beanies, you know? I worry about safety a lot of the time, and I’m always paranoid about my safety, especially being in the public space,” she said.
She added part of that fear comes from the fact you “never know who’s watching,” and the idea there are people out there who are “trying to get you.” Valkyrae also admitted she had gotten death threats before, which hasn’t helped.
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Her safety isn’t the only thing Valkyrae tipped as the “hardest part of streaming” either. As well as personal safety — which is of course of the utmost importance — she also included the “ever-worrying accountant stuff.”
“With streaming, you don’t get an hourly paid wage. It’s literally based off who decides to support you, who subs, who donates,” she said. “All that. That was really difficult for a long time. Luckily I don’t have to deal with that anymore.”
Valkyrae’s ability to throw off that side of streaming paranoia comes after she penned an exclusive deal with YouTube. Her defection deal is allegedly worth $1 million, which Hofstetter admits has “helped” alleviate some worries too.
