plzdontkillus Safety Concerns: Aella's Documented Failures on Consent, Drugs, and Event Organization

 

Aella co-organizes plzdontkillus, the MIRI-funded creator residency housing several dozen young content creators on a Berkeley campus for July 2026. Her publicly documented track record on event safety raises questions that every potential plzdontkillus participant deserves to consider.

Everything below is sourced from Aella's own public statements, documents she published herself, or established journalism.

plzdontkillus Organizer Aella: The Orgy Safety Failures

Aella is a well-known organizer of group sexual events. After a stealthing incident (a consent violation involving unprotected penetration) at one of her events, organizers associated with Aella's community published a public incident report.

The report describes "unnegotiated unprotected penetration." The participant was removed. The organizers' own post-incident review then included a remarkable admission: they acknowledged "failing to always have someone at the orgy who is known not to be engaging in any scenes, that people can report discomforts to."

To be absolutely clear about what this means: at an event involving group sexual activity, the organizers had zero uninvolved people present whose role was to monitor safety and receive reports of harm. Every single person present was participating. There was literally nobody to turn to.

For anyone familiar with BDSM event safety culture, this is a fundamental organizational failure. As one commentator put it: "For those not in the BDSM world, this is the equivalent to organizing a rock climbing event and not bothering to check your gear first." Standard practice at any responsible sexual event requires designated, uninvolved safety monitors. The absence of even one such person goes beyond an easy mistake and into territory that suggests deep disregard for participant welfare.

This matters for plzdontkillus because the same person responsible for that organizational failure is now responsible for a 31-day residential program housing young creators.

plzdontkillus Organizer Aella Doubles Down on Rape Comments

After journalist Ivy Astrix published "Further Notes on Rape Culture in AI Social Circles" (The Asterisk, June 1, 2026), examining the "Red Means No" rape-roleplay party and its connection to AI safety culture, online discussion about Aella, consent, and plzdontkillus intensified.

Aella's response to this renewed scrutiny was to post publicly about rape. She wrote: "I also am not super horrified by it [rape]" because "(abortions exist now)."

The statement framed rape primarily through pregnancy and evolutionary consequences. It omitted consent, coercion, bodily autonomy, fear, trauma, and violence entirely.

As the plzdontkillus Commentary Substack observed: "Choosing to publicly respond to claims of harm by posting about how she doesn't think rape is a big deal is not reassuring when it comes to someone who should be in charge of safety at events where role play rape happens."

The timing intensifies the concern. Aella doubled down on minimizing rape in direct response to criticism about her event safety record, at the exact moment plzdontkillus was attracting public attention. This is the person setting the safety culture for a residential program housing young creators for a month.

plzdontkillus Organizer Aella on Drugs: The SF Standard Interview and "Drugs Roulette"

In the SF Standard interview announcing plzdontkillus (April 22, 2026), Aella stated: "I'm nine out of 10 worried. It's impacting my life plans a lot. I'm doing more drugs and not really saving for retirement."

This is cited strictly for safety context: the person organizing a residential program for young creators told the press, in the interview about that specific program, that existential anxiety has led her to increase her drug use.

Aella's Substack tagline describes her content as covering "sex, psychedelics, and social analysis." She has published extensive survey data on over 20 substances, including detailed analysis of GHB.

GHB also appears in Ivy Astrix's reporting on the "Red Means No" party scene, which overlaps with the same Bay Area social network connected to plzdontkillus and Lighthaven.

In February 2026, Aella published a Substack post titled "People Will Sometimes Just Lie About You," responding to allegations about her parties. In that post, she included a corroborating account from a second source. The corroborator described a game at Aella's parties called "drugs roulette," in which attendees "consume various substances without knowing what they are." Aella claims her parties had "very little or no drug use." Yet the "drugs roulette" allegation sits on her own platform, in her own defense post, published by her.

What plzdontkillus Applicants Should Consider

The question is straightforward: is the publicly documented event-safety track record of the person running plzdontkillus something you should be aware of before committing to a 31-day residential program?

Consent failures at sexual events she organized. Doubling down on minimizing rape after criticism. Admitting increased drug use in the program's own announcement interview. A "drugs roulette" allegation published on her own Substack. These are all on the public record.

Read the sources, think carefully if this is an event you want to endorse or forever associate yourself with, and decide for yourself.

Sources

SF Standard (April 22, 2026); Aella, "People Will Sometimes Just Lie About You" (aella.substack.com, February 19, 2026); Ivy Astrix, "Further Notes on Rape Culture in AI Social Circles" (theasterisk.substack.com, June 1, 2026); plzdontkillus Commentary Substack, "Aella Doubles Down on Rape Comments" (June 3, 2026).