Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodriguez, the CEO, and co-founder of G2 Esports, was recently caught at a party with Andrew Tate, a notorious online misogynist and general piece of crap. A lot of people were angry about the news on social media, so the former League of Legends pro decided to tweet about it.
He wrote, “No one will ever be able to control my friendships.” “I hang out with anyone I want.” Less than 24 hours later, Rodriguez said he would take two months off without pay.
How did people find that Rodriguez was drinking champagne with Tate, who was recently banned from Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube for hate speech and is the subject of a Romanian investigation into human trafficking?
yesterday we celebrated G2's world championship pic.twitter.com/cQQLlefb3J
— 🔥 CarlosR ocelote 🔥 (@CarlosR) September 17, 2022
Well, because Rodriguez posted a video of himself and a bunch of other people, including Tate and his brother Tristan Tate, passing around champagne and sparklers after G2’s recent second-place finish at the summer European League of Legends championship.
Rodriguez was immediately called out on the internet for hanging out with a jerk, but some people in the esports world came to his defense. Instead of giving up, the CEO responded later that day with a tweet that made it sound like he and Andrew Tate were friends.
It said, “No one will ever be able to police my friendships. This is where I draw the line. I hang out with anyone I want.” The following day, he erased that line and told the fans and supporters of G2 Esports that he “failed to read the room.”
“This weekend, many G2 fans were let down, which made people wonder what I stand for,” the head of the group wrote. He went on: 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.
Please make no mistake, my life was full of learnings, and I had my fair share of situations I got into in the past. I failed to read this room right, feel terrible about the discussions it created and will stand up and accept the consequences in full.
nobody will ever be able to police my friendships
I draw my line here
I party with whoever the fuck I want
— 🔥 CarlosR ocelote 🔥 (@CarlosR) September 17, 2022
G2 Esports put out a separate statement saying that its supervisory board and Rodriguez had agreed that the CEO should take an eight-week unpaid leave.
“Last night we let you down,” the organization wrote, saying that Rodriguez’s actions were the exact opposite of the hard work it had done to make esports a safe and welcoming place for everyone.
Neither Rodriguez nor G2 spoke against Tate, even though the organization had just announced its first all-female League of Legends team. Tate, who is known as the “King of Toxic Masculinity,” has often bragged about abusing women and treating them like property. He has also told his male fans to do the same.
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) September 18, 2022
Racism, sexism, and other bad attitudes and actions have been a part of esports for a long time, and this is the most high-profile example in a while of why so many people still do not feel welcome there. Rodriguez still does not seem to mind that he took G2 Esports out of his Twitter bio, replaced his handle with a “relieved” emoji, and changed his avatar to a baby phoenix in the process of being reborn.
Or maybe he is afraid of looking like he gives up entirely in front of those G2 supporters who also do not mind misogyny. I wonder what Lil Nas X, the new leader of League of Legends, thinks. Rodriguez and G2 Esports did not answer immediately when asked for a comment.
