COVER Corporation announces its position on posts by hololive-affiliated VTubers and its response to defamation and harassment

On 20 October, COVER Corporation published an announcement regarding a post by one of its talents and its response to defamation and sexual harassment. The matter concerned a post made on X on 17 October by Laplus Darkness of hololive production, and the company had received a large number of comments regarding the matter.

After interviewing the talent, the company found that sexual images had been sent unsolicited to Laplus Darkness’s account. Similar conduct is said to have occurred in the past, and the company understood that she had posted impulsively in an attempt to strongly reject the sexual harassment.

COVER Corporation clearly characterized sending sexual images as harassment and stated that it could not tolerate such malicious conduct, which violates its rules. To protect an environment in which all of its talents can work safely, the company said it would continue to take strict action, including consulting with police and pursuing legal measures.

At the same time, the company recognized that some wording in the post lacked consideration for viewers. It reaffirmed the need to consider the affected talent, improve its choice of words and means of communication, and maintain a consultation framework when deciding whether to issue communications. Going forward, it said it would support its talents’ activities and communications while providing both guidance and care.

The company pointed to cases in which defamation of talents and unforeseen disputes have spread as a result of incidents of this kind. It asked people who encounter the relevant post to refrain from engaging with it individually or quoting and resharing it, and instead to report it using the reporting functions of the relevant services or the company’s contact channels.