In the past few days, the topic of sexual harassment and finally sexual assault in the areas of gaming, esports and social media has become more and more present. Hundreds of women revealed events and experiences that should be despised and accused not only in this area, but in all societies and work environments.
On Thursday and above all on Friday, the scandals finally reached the famous top esports organization Method around guild leader and founder Scott ‘Sco’ McMillan, who is particularly known for her mostly international successes in World of Warcraft. A user named “Alex” (@ 2Alexmae5), for example, revealed on Twitter that she was being harassed and harassed by ‘MethodJosh’ at the age of 16. As evidence, she added an Imgur gallery, in which a chat process between the two can be seen.
More reports followed
Josh does not make his last name public, but must also put up with further allegations. Like the “Kotaku” platform in one detailed post Already reported on the topic in 2019, Josh repeatedly harassed women, sometimes harassed them. Another victim was 17 years old at the time of the incident.
Another sexual assault, the Twitch streamer ‘poopernoodle’ in one Twitlonger explicitly describes [Triggerwarnung!], is also associated with the Method Raid member, though she doesn’t name a name. However, the incidents match a Twitch-Ban that MethodJosh had to tolerate in June last year and for which no official reason had been released.
I’m ready. TW: rape
Read: https://t.co/nf2woYRCsL
— poopernoodle (@poopernoodle) June 24, 2020
The turmoil escalates
The international esports organization reacted quickly and excluded Josh shortly after the publications due to the burden of allegations. Despite everything, the company’s image was too badly damaged. There are rumors that several people knew about the incident internally and may have tolerated it.
We are ending our relationship with Josh effective immediately.
— Method (@Method) June 24, 2020
A statement from Method came later in the evening – also in one Twitlonger – added to the incidents. It says that they have separated from him in regard to his grotesque misconduct. In the direct statement of the method management on the Kotaku article from February 2019 it says:
„All of us at Method take the welfare of minors seriously, including their safety on the internet. If you feel you have evidence that anybody, inside or outside of Method, has been behaving in a predatory or illegal manner we strongly encourage you to contact the police and make a report, so that a thorough – and proper – investigation can occur.“
Freely translated:
“All of us at Method take the welfare of minorities very seriously, including their security on the Internet. If anyone believes they have evidence that anyone, inside or outside of Method, has acted illegally or ruthlessly, we encourage them to contact the police and file a complaint so that a full and reasonable investigation can be made. ”
Regarding the latest events and news on Twitter, Method announces that the events that have emerged and Josh’s behavior have worried and confused all members of the organization. In response, they immediately separated from him and deeply regretted that they had not reacted earlier. The allegations that the events within the organization were already known are categorically wrong and unbearable to read. They will overhaul the internal strategies and ensure that something like this never happens again.
Too late for some
Despite Method’s rapid response, some Method partners, members and sponsors took the incident as an opportunity to say goodbye to the collaboration. For example, content creator and streamer ‘Esfand’ (@EsfandTV) has been negotiating a new contract with Method for a few months, which he no longer needs. He declined the offer and said that he would not continue the cooperation with Method.
I’ve been partnered with Method for quite some time and we’ve been in negotiations for a contract renewal for the last few months.
All things considered, I’ve come to the decision to decline the offer and move on from Method and explore my options as a free agent.
– Esfand (@EsfandTV) June 25, 2020
The big sponsor CORSAIR also said it would part with Method. The sponsorship will end with immediate effect, it says in a tweet via the official channel of the hardware manufacturer.
We have ended our sponsorship of @Method at this time.
– CORSAIR (@CORSAIR) June 25, 2020
Shanna ‘Darrie’ Roberts, former General Manager of Method, even canceled her contract. On Twitter, she explains that she cannot support some of the decisions made. This has to do not only with Josh, but above all with Sascha.
With Sascha, the manager means Co-CEO Sascha Steffens, who already had the status of a so-called “unpaid administrative leave“While waiting for the results of a third party investigation.
Roberts further explains that it is important to acknowledge the role she has played in some of these precarious decisions. So she writes that she is not innocent. All she can do now is accept the mistakes she made, learn from them, and never repeat them.
It is important to acknowledge the role I played in some of these decisions: I was not innocent. All I can do is try to accept where I failed, learn from it, and never repeat them.
— d. (@darriesleeps) June 26, 2020
The end of Method?
A lot of rumors are circulating very quickly on the Internet and especially on social media. After the events at Method and the departure of employees, partners and even sponsors, some of them now revolve around whether the e-sports organization can even recover from the events.
Is the damage to the reputation so immense that Method may even have to close the doors completely as a result of the internal misconduct that still remains, which former general manager Shanna ‘Darrie’ Roberts even partially admits to herself? It remains to be seen.
Is the statement from the organization enough to dispel the allegations? At the moment it can only be speculated – and that is certainly not our strength. We closely monitor the further events and of course keep you up to date on Gaming-Grounds.de.
More about Method:
Method-Doku: The story of the probably best WoW guild in the world
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