October 15, 2015: The Zamii070 Incident (TW Suicide, Cyberbullying)
This week, Emily and V look into another bummer event. In late October 2015, a 19‑year‑old fan artist from Arizona named Paige Paz, known online as Zamii070, posted a video from a hospital room after surviving a suicide attempt. For months, she had been the target of escalating harassment from corners of the Steven Universe fandom — a community built around a show that preached empathy, communication, and radical kindness. Her hospitalization forced the internet to confront an uncomfortable truth: how did one of the most progressive fandom spaces of the mid‑2010s become a breeding ground for mobbing, purity tests, and moral vigilantism? Please read the TWs in the episode title and take care of yourself before choosing to listen; there is nothing graphic and no details are disclosed, but be cautious if concerned.
Sources
Online Hate and Hurt by Jessica Ruth Austin
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