Content warning: The following story contains descriptions of misogyny.
G2 Esports will be without the services of its CEO Carlos Rodriguez for a little while as he has agreed to take eight weeks of unpaid leave from the company over a video on Twitter of himself partying with Andrew Tate, an influencer banned last month by YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram for various violations of their terms of service, including hate speech and misogyny.
Rodriguez posted the eight-second-long video featuring himself and Tate Saturday morning, saying, “Yesterday we celebrated G2’s world championship.” (G2 won the 2022 League of Legends European Championship spring season and was runner-up in the summer season.)
The video prompted a wave of backlash, and in the late afternoon Rodriguez doubled down, saying, “Nobody will ever be able to police my friendships. I draw my line here. I party with whoever the fuck I want.”
Tate had been a contestant on the TV show Big Brother in 2016, but was removed from the show after video surfaced that appeared to show him beating a woman. In the wake of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Tate also said women who were raped should bear some responsibility.
G2 Esports announced Rodriguez’s leave Sunday morning in a note to its fans on Twitter, saying, “Last night we failed you. The actions of our CEO spoke a language in stark contrast with the value and the culture G2 lives by and strives for. And for that we apologize.
“Since our creation, we have worked hard to build a safe and inclusive environment to enjoy esports. These are just small steps in the right direction we need to take as a company. We’ll continue to do our best each and every day to improve ourselves and the industry at large.”
Rodriguez also followed up Sunday morning to say, “Many G2 fans were let down this weekend which created confusion about what I stand for. It has always been my consistent target to stand for absolute equality of opportunity regardless of who you are or where you come from, which is what gaming is all about.”
He added, “I failed to read this room right, feel terrible about the discussions it created and will stand up and accept the consequences in full.”
Rodriguez’s partying with Tate came just weeks after G2 Sports announced its first all-woman League of Legends team.
Brendan Sinclair
Managing Editor
Brendan joined GamesIndustry International in 2012. Based in Toronto, Ontario, he was previously senior news editor at CBS-owned GameSpot in the US.
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