Imagine you’re an influencer: surviving, thriving, within THE group, with over 300,000 loyal fans. You can’t be stopped–until one day, you are. Getting cancelled is a common phenomenon for content creators, which can cause a major and sometimes permanent dent in their reputation. That’s exactly what happened to the VTuber Sinder. But first of all, who is Sinder and what is a VTuber?
VTubers, a growing group of influencers, are content creators who use animated virtual avatars to mirror their facial expressions instead of a facecam. They originated from Japan in 2016, and the majority of VTubers and VTuber fans remain in Japan. These virtual avatars require a lot of time to make, as one first needs to be designed, then animated so that each feature moves with the person behind the screen in a visually appealing way. Because of the amount of time and dedication required to create one, a good 2D avatar can cost thousands of dollars.
Now, who is Sinder? Sinder is a popular independent VTuber with over 300,000 subscribers. While this number may seem small for someone who is regarded as “popular,” it’s a significant number in the niche VTuber realm.
Everything started on April 26, 2025, when the artist of Sinder’s official virtual avatar design and artwork, Nanoless, posted a Google Doc on X (formerly Twitter) titled “Terminating my work with Sinder.” In this document, Nanoless explains how RED, Sinder’s longtime manager, would manipulate her by showing appreciation for her hard work after a commission, then immediately start badmouthing and spreading rumors about other creators to influence her future decisions about working with those said creators. One specific example she gives is Bao, who was at that time a friend of Sinder’s. RED asked Nanoless to cancel her work with Bao halfway through, saying Bao “has many connections” and “she’ll be fine anyways, so you wouldn’t feel guilty about it or worry too much.” Another example was when Nanoless had a commission with ShyLily, another one of Sinder’s VTuber friends. When RED heard of the commission, he began slandering ShyLily to make Nanoless reconsider working with her, while at the same time telling Nanoless that he was doing it for her own good. RED claims he wanted to “gauge the competition,” which Nanoless considered toxic, as the competition he was referring to was people who considered Sinder friends and often promoted her on their own channels.
Later on, RED asked for an exclusivity contract of sorts. He proposed that whenever someone asks Nanoless for a commission, he would give her a commission with Sinder instead. RED reinforced this manipulation by claiming that every other model Nanoless creates makes Sinder’s feel “less special,” which Nanoless considered extremely hurtful.
You might think this could all be RED’s fault, but Nanoless had proof that said otherwise. She personally reached out to ask Sinder about their intentions when RED was making her uncomfortable and confused. Sinder had agreed with RED, stating, “It’s just business.”
When Nanoless tried to confront them, she only received more fake sympathy and manipulation. It’s clear that RED was aware of his manipulative actions the entire time, as he would often ask her if she had mentioned their conversations to others.
Following the release of this document, most people sided with Nanoless, many of whom were other creators who had been friends with Sinder. Of course, Sinder wouldn’t just sit there and watch her career collapse. So on April 27th, just a day later, she released her first apology. Her main claim was that she was unaware of RED’s messages and manipulation regarding Nanoless, which drew more backlash. Her friends Bao and ShyLily commented on her apology post, revealing that Sinder must’ve had knowledge of RED’s decisions. The majority of replies to her post expressed disappointment in her actions and response.
After this, Sinder went into hiding for around six months. During that time, she lost over 30,000 subscribers on YouTube and another 30,000 on Twitch. However, earlier this month, on October 7th, Sinder made a post on X, saying, “The burden of proof is on the accuser, not the accused. They lied to you. Here’s 1000 pages of proof.” She proceeded to link below a 1000-page Google Doc that contained her own point of view. The document was broken down into 13 sections, with each section covering different people who were involved. The document was controversial, to say the least. To keep it short, Sinder admitted she was a bad friend and apologized for it, but she also continued to defend her miscommunication with RED to deflect the blame away from herself.
As of now, Sinder has gone back to streaming with a sizable amount of viewers and over 300,000 subscribers. Many fans were willing to forgive her and give her a second chance, while others claimed that she avoided responsibility and took her sweet time cherry-picking the images that would make her look good. Sinder will most likely remain popular with solo streams, but she probably won’t be able to reach the same heights of popularity as she did before the incident. Sinder’s reputation was greatly wounded by the incident, but she will continue to grow and possibly recover as time passes.
