When Ironmouse, one of the most popular VTubers in the world, announced she was leaving VShojo, nobody was ready for the bombshells that followed. Unpaid earnings, missing charity funds, an exodus of talent. Within a matter of days, the biggest VTuber talent agency in the US had collapsed in real time.
What actually happened, and what does it mean for the future of VTuber agencies?
A Scandal Sparked by Betrayal
On July 21, 2025, Ironmouse released an 11-minute video on YouTube explaining why she was leaving VShojo.
She claimed the agency owed her a “significant amount of funds which I have not been paid”. She also accused the agency of failing to deliver over $500,000 raised during her charity subathon to the Immune Deficiency Foundation. It’s a cause close to her heart as she struggles with the chronic condition Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID) and she has received assistance from the charity. She also revealed she’d been misled for months about where the money had gone.
Within 48 hours, other top VShojo talents including Kson, Kuro, Projekt Melody, and AmaLee announced they were leaving too. Many of them claimed they hadn’t been paid in months. Japanese VTuber Kson said during a livestream that she hadn’t received any payments since September 2024. She even called Makino, the CEO of VShojo Japan to confront him over it.
A Company in Freefall
Everything that’s come out about VShojo has been a full-blown exposé of how the company operates behind the scenes. Nyanners, who left the agency in 2023, revealed that VShojo never paid her for a sponsored stream where she was swatted. She also mentioned how her and former talent Silvervale and Veibae were slandered by staff for leaving and were portrayed as being bitchy and manipulative to the other talents.
Makino suggested that the missing $500,000 in charity funds might’ve been redirected to “operational costs.” He admitted that the Japanese branch of the agency receives money from the American side. If the US side of the company doesn’t get it together then the Japanese streamers might never get paid.
To make things worse, VShojo was reportedly trying to recruit new talent while failing to pay the ones already on their roster. Mint revealed that she was an unofficial VShojo member for a year while she tried to form an idol group under the agency. Not only was she not paid for her services, but her debut was delayed until plans for the group were abandoned.
By mid-July, VShojo’s brand was radioactive. Staff and managers had left the agency in the weeks before Ironmouse announced her departure. Talent scrubbed the agency’s name from their social media bios. Public statements from former members have exposed troubling info from their time at the agency. It’s been hinted that legal action will be taken sooner or later. Ironmouse told fans she’d been advised by attorneys not to reveal more, but strongly hinted that this wasn’t the full story.
A Reckoning Among VTuber Agencies?
This controversy is happening in the middle of a larger pattern of dysfunction across the VTuber industry.
Nijisanji has been bleeding talent for months and Hololive has seen its biggest streamers graduate this year. VShojo was once considered a flexible, talent-first alternative to Japanese agencies. Now it has become the latest cautionary tale.
It’s created an environment where even fans are asking the hard questions:
- Do VTuber agencies actually help creators or just exploit them?
- Is it safer to go independent?
- Can charity fundraising even be trusted if agencies are involved?
What Happens Now?
Ironmouse is continuing her work as an independent VTuber. Within days of launching a new Tiltify campaign, she raised over $1 million dollars for the Immune Deficiency Foundation.
Meanwhile, all of VShojo’s streamers are gone, with most of them deciding to become independent. The company’s future looks bleak. If it doesn’t formally dissolve in the next few months, it’ll remain a shell of its former self.
Yet this scandal runs deeper than VShojo. The real story is about a shifting power dynamic in VTubing. Creators have more tools than ever to succeed on their own. The audience is loyal to the talent, not the logo next to their name. And with each scandal, whether it’s Hololive, Nijisanji, or now VShojo, the idea that agencies are essential keeps getting weaker.
Ironmouse’s exit was the breaking point, but the system was already cracking. What we’re seeing now is a broader reckoning. A long-overdue demand for transparency, fair pay, and basic respect for the people making this industry thrive.
If agencies can’t provide that then they’ll be left behind. Because VTubers aren’t just avatars. They’re voices, faces, and communities and they’re done being silenced.
