Cops: Follower Fatally Stabs Influencer on Livestream

A Japanese influencer was livestreaming on a Tokyo street on Tuesday when she was fatally stabbed by a follower with a grudge, according to police. Airi Sato, 22, could be heard screaming for help as her livestream suddenly went dark, the New York Times reports, noting viewers later heard sirens. Police said 42-year-old Kenji Takano, among Sato's more than 2,600 followers on the livestreaming app WhoWatch, was arrested at the scene. He admitted to using a knife to stab Sato dozens of times in the head, neck, and torso, police said, per the Japan Times.

Takano had started watching Sato's videos in December 2021 before starting to visit the restaurant where she worked in the summer of 2022, reports the Japan Times. In January 2024, he reportedly complained to Tochigi Prefectural Police that Sato had failed to pay back more than $13,000 he lent her to cover living expenses. He allegedly took matters into his own hands upon learning Sato would be livestreaming from Tokyo on Tuesday, where she planned to walk between train stations, livestreaming along the way. He allegedly told police he traveled to the capital, then used buildings pictured in Sato's livestream to figure out where she was. "She continued to not repay me, so I decided to attack," he allegedly said. (More Japan stories.)