VTuber Agency VShojo Shuts Down Amid Accusations Of Mismanagement, Wage Theft: “It Is F—ked Up And I Am Upset”
VTuber agency VShojo has announced that they will be shutting down, after damning allegations — primarily levied by VTuber Ironmouse — unveiled a series of irregularities in the company’s management of funds; causing more talent to announce their resignation.
On Tuesday, Ironmouse left VShojo, claiming that the agency not only owed her money but they also allegedly failed to pay the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) over $500,000 she had raised for them. As one of the western world’s most popular VTubers, the torches and pitchforks were out — some even held by now-former VShojo talent.
In an official statement shared today to X, VShojo CEO Justin Ignacio (GunRun) addressed the situation, announcing that the company is now permanently shutting down, and apologizing for the way in which the series of events that led to this decision have been handled, prefacing, “VShojo has failed, and l’ve mismanaged the company into the situation you’re all witnessing.”
“I’ve been doing everything I can to fundraise and right the ship these past few months, but despite my efforts, we are in a worse position, and those I care about are now paying the price,” he went on.
He continued, “Over the past few years, we raised around $11 million to pursue a bold, talent-first approach in Tubing, prioritizing creators and community over short-term profits, to achieve long-term sustainability. Our funding went directly to our creators through generous splits, debut investments, infrastructure, concerts, events, and staffing, all designed to support them.”
He then asserted, “We also wanted talent to own their IP, which we knew was a unique creator-first approach for an agency. However, despite all our efforts, the business failed to generate the revenue we needed to sustain that model, and eventually, we ran out of money.”
“Additionally, I acknowledge that some of the money spent by the company was raised in connection with talent activity, which I later learned was intended for a charitable initiative,” Ignacio admitted. “At the time, we were working hard to raise additional investment capital to cover our costs, and I firmly believed, based on the information available to us, that we would be able to do so and cover all expenses.”
He added, “We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts. I made the decision to pursue funding, and I own its consequences,” before concluding, “I am deeply sorry to all the talents, staff, friends, and community members who believed in our brand. You did not deserve this.”
For those unfamiliar, Ironmouse is a VTuber who started streaming in 2017 as she suffers from Common Variable Immunodeficiency. This means she has a poor to non-existent immune system, and was bound to her room and bed. Initially streaming as a way to make friends, she grew from strength to strength; joining VShojo in 2020.
She showed the world her brilliant singing voice, wicked humor, and huge heart. Ironmouse used her fame to help others, championing charity drives for the IDF. The charity has honored her alongside her close friend Connor Marc Colquhoun (CDawgVA).
However, on July 21st she would claim VShojo had badly hindered those efforts.
On the edge of tears, Ironmouse explained she was leaving VShojo, explaining she had learned that over “the past couple of months,” she believes she was “owed a significant amount of funds, which I have not been paid.”
“And most importantly, the thing that hurts me the most, is that the Immune Deficiency Foundation, which is the most important charity to me and also the reason why I’m here today, is owed over half a million dollars from VShojo,” she claimed, explaining that she couldn’t elaborate any further under instructions from her attorney.
She recounted being reluctant to join VShojo at first, fearing for her anonymity and afraid to trust others. “I felt like every time I put my trust in people, it always ends in grief for me. So, I was worried about expectations, and a million and one other things,” she declared.
Ironmouse said she “would always be told how important I was for the company, and I was always told that I was needed in order for the company to succeed.”
“Although that was very positive to hear, it put a lot of pressure and a lot of stress on me; to the point where I felt guilt-tripped into signing,” she admitted, explaining how she “felt responsible for everybody” who worked at VShojo. “I felt like, if I didn’t do this, and if I didn’t stay, I was hurting everybody and I was destroying everybody’s life.”
Growing more uncomfortable, Ironmouse nonetheless allowed VShojo to handle her payments to ensure her privacy. “One amazing thing for me was the fact that VShojo handled all my payments, and it meant that I never had to give out any of my personal information, so that was always a blessing to me.”
“As time went on, I decided that I wanted to try to start pulling out my remaining funds because I wanted to start taking over my own finances. This is what led me to this point,” Ironmouse revealed.
Between her and Conner, they had raised around $4 million for the IDF through numerous charity events via Tiltify. After the success of her first subathon in 2022, she wanted to donate half her earnings to the IDF for future subathons.
The second subathon raised over $329,350 for the IDF, but this came in via Twitch revenue rather than Tiltify. As such, it required VShojo to make that donation on Ironmouse’s behalf. She notes they had “promptly sent the payment.”
The third subathon in 2024 raised $515,000 for the IDF — along with Ironmouse breaking the record as the most subscribed streamer on Twitch. “I once again asked VShojo to make the donation on my behalf. But unfortunately, still a year later, VShojo has not paid the charity,” she claimed.
“This entire situation has broken me. I just wanted to do something good, and to give back to a community that helped me. But unfortunately, that’s not the case,” Ironmouse lamented. “I am at a loss of what to do right now. I’m kind of processing everything. I’m very sad, and very confused. Once again, I want to apologize to the Immune Deficiency Foundation and to my community who has shown so much support to me.”
Ironmouse then explained all ad revenue from the announcement video would go to the IDF, promoted a Tiltify donation fund, and will perform a special livestream later in the month to help raise money.
Ironmouse’s video has captured the love and fury of the VTubing community, if not beyond. The aforementioned Tiltify link aimed to raise $10,000, but has raised over $563,000 at this time of writing; continuing to climb. Even Tiltify cheered on Ironmouse in their own post, and the IDF found themselves being surprised by the unexpected amount raised at that point.
As of writing, the top donors includes a who’s who of VTubing and streaming, with nearly the top 50 donations giving $1,000 or more. Along with VTube Studio giving $16,500 (the program which made Ironmouse’ streaming possible), of note is Zentreya — who left VShojo on July 11th — who has donated the sum of $8,000.
People have also been made more aware thanks to videos by MoistCr1tikal (17 million subscribers), and many others.
The internet would then rally behind “Mousey,” once again the biggest VTubers replying to her post. Many insisted she had succeeded on her own merits and work, and not because of VShojo. This even included then-current and former VShojo talent.
GEEGA, former VTuber for VShojo, made a call to arms with the donations, which was subsequently retweeted by AmaLee (at the time a member), Nyanners (left in April 2023), and Zentreya. Former member Matara Kan (left May this year) also voiced her support in the replies.
Zentreya told her own supporters on X she was just as angry as they were, declaring, “Some of you have questions that I can’t legally answer. But please know that it wasn’t for me to bring to light. But it is f—ed up and I am upset. And you have the right as well.”
It has also been claimed by X users that several current VShojo members used to have “VShojo” in their usernames, but have removed it after this revelation. While some members have expressed either deepest love for Ironmouse or utter disgust at VShojo, we can gleam some more information from other members.
GEEGA addressed the situation in her livesteam, mere moments after the video went live (1:16:35). After expressing her “relief,” GEEGA explained that she knew it was coming. While she left in June, she was legally unable to provide other details.
GEEGA believed she had been “misled” as Ironmouse had, and saw “the writing on the wall” but didn’t want to act until she could verify what she had learned. Learning it was true, it prompted her to leave. Even then, what happened with Ironmouse is only “some” of the reasons she left.
She hoped her leaving helped encourage others in VShojo to do whatever they feel is best.
If GEEGA’s words could be considered cautious, KSon’s could be considered grabbing the bull by the horns. She announced a special live-stream across Twitch and YouTube, demanding answers from VShojo live on air. She revealed she had been unpaid since September 2024. Prior to that, things were “fine,” but payments were sometimes late.
KSon was repeatedly told she was going to be paid, and only waited as any public declaration would have guaranteed she wouldn’t be paid. She had planned to leave the company on July 31st, but moved forward due to Ironmouse’s announcement.
Initially overwhelmed with embarrassment and shame trusting a company that “only cared about money,” KSon called VShojo’s Japanese CEO Koshi Makino. (It should be noted VShojo is based in California, and the CEO is Justin Ignacio.
Makino explained (in Japanese and translated by KSon, her mods, and third parties) that the Japanese side of the company handled a lot less than the English side and — despite insisting the company was “doing good” according to the main company’s finances — he knew KSon and other Japanese VShojo talents weren’t being paid. Even he was being paid half of what he should have been.
He was also waiting for VShojo to send the money; all the while being endlessly told it was coming. While Makino didn’t know a lot — and if he did couldn’t legally say — he felt VShojo’s actions were the result of incompetence, and they had believed taking on more talents and making more talent would result in more talent. At one point he felt the company would end up being disbanded, but later on said he was unsure.
KSon’s repeated requests to be paid there and then were unanswered, with Makino relenting that to pay back what they owe, VShojo would need to make a comeback financially. Which, given the circumstances, would be tough. Japanese VShojo talents Hestia, Akatsuki, Okamoto, and Yutori also explained on X that they were dealing with the information, and loved their fans and English colleagues.
VTuber Michi Mochievee also revealed she had parted ways with VShojo (and was also owed money, along with other factors that cannot be disclosed) on a stream. In separate posts shared on X, VTubers Amalee, Projekt Melody, Kuro, and Hime announced they were quitting VShojo, with Henya making her future plans known through a stream.
At this time of writing, the VShojo badge on all the western talent’s X profiles has gone, including those who have not formally announced quitting VShojo such as Froot and Haruka. Whether the Japanese talents ever had them is unknown.
Even upcoming talent, such as Piapi and Beri Bug, abandoned the company; revealing they had successfully auditioned to join VShojo but have since rejected it.
Tori Orane was set to join VShojo under a new name but, rather than joining a week after signing the contract (as VShojo assured), nothing happened over seven months as a lack of staff pushed her debut back over and over. Tori offered to help with costs — even all costs after having spent money on her own model and other assets — after being told her debut was going to be more expensive, but VShojo never took her up on this offer. At a convention during this time, she heard rumors VShojo had financial issues.
And it doesn’t end there. Other allegations came out including unpaid commissions, and a damning allegation by streamer and former adult star Shibuya Kaho — who claimed that a VShojo staff member was boasting about “his new income,” and heard via a third party that another staff member was exposing what their VTubers looked like and their marital statuses.
