Pro Gamer Suspended For Saying He Had Sex With a 14-Year-Old

[loa]

Maybe he just said some shocking shit to distract his opponent?
You know, trash talk. This was during a match after all.

How anyone here can even consider he has actually done it is beyond me.

 

[BrotherRool]

I'm so glad all the comments here are talking about how ridiculous it is. I wish the Escapist would take a higher ground here, this is one of the better writers but for a site that claims to take 'gaming as lifestyle' it's news is utter crud. I feel bad for giving page views sometimes. It's telling when they were explaining the stages of reporting here that they literally didn't actually have a 'check facts' stage.

I mean in broad terms this article was actually really good. But what it suffers from is the way the article exists along with the fact that the Escapist never reports on e-sports news. This is the same thing (although hopefully not deliberate) that Fox does, where they report the controversy on Global Warming, and although they cover their backs and the actual articles explain the complaints could be (is) crud, but the fact that they are only reporting controversy means that the controversy registers in peoples brains and gets given way more significance then it should be.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

I don't really give a shit about the drama, but now I won't see Stephano play in tournaments for ages. That's pretty terrible news, as he's a fantastic player, easily one of the best in the world. Korea included.

Same. I don't really watch him all that much, but everytime I do watch him he's only winning. I never saw him lose a game. I remember he bought a new SC2 account and he was in top-masters in an evening.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I think his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt. I mean, a Starcraft player having sex? Ludicrous!

 

[IronMit]

Is this not a good day for gaming?

The gaming community/area dealing with inappropriate 'jokes/claims' instead of waiting for it to get picked up by a major news outlet first.

The guy has his freedom of speech to make crap jokes but organisations have the right to suspend/ ban.

For the record it was clearly a joke, using 'rape', 'abuse' as a metaphor but they need to try to make the environment as non-threatening as possible. It's bad for business if their game space is littered with abusive language as innocent as the intention may of been.

The title should really say 'Gamer suspended for making a public rape joke'

or Gamer suspended for using slang.. cos that is slang now

 

[Best of the 3]

I suppose by "abused" he meant "I owned the fuck out of him in SC".

If that's the case, I believe I've abused a few 14 year olds in my time too.

That's exactly what I thought too from that screen shot. Then again I don't know where the rest of the conversation would be so I can't really confirm what he means.

Personally this is just stupid. I don't really care all that much to be honest. If he's done what it looks like (had sex / abused a 14yo girl) then yes it's bad. If he hasn't or he's exaggerating or if he just means he whooped the kids ass in some Starcraft then everyone really just needs to chill there beans.

 

[cidbahamut]

All I'm getting out of this is a severe lack of context and someone projecting pretty hard.

Without more information that screenshot could just as easily be referring to the guy decimating someone in-game. The Engrish makes it difficult to decipher.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Why does the article say that this took place "during a live match"? It didn't. That's not what the battle.net interface looks like during any kind of match. That's what the battle.net 2.0 UI looks like when you aren't playing. Bling streaming the battle.net UI on twitch or wherever is not "a live match".

Fix it.

 

[Olliesama]

In Spain or Japan, this would be considered fine, maybe.
Besides like others are speculating it doesn't look like he even meant it in a sexual way. He could have meant it in saying that he destroyed the brat at SC2, or another game. Of course it's all just speculation. Plus isn't the french age of consent 15? 1 Year really doesn't seem worth all this news.

 

[PirateRose]

Here's the rest of the convo in a screenshot apparently taken right before the guy involved in recording this proceeded to delete the archive of this game session.

Spoiler

Stephano didn't know he was streaming.

Stephano says he will stick with MILFs and kids now, then he says I hope you're not showing anyone this.

I get the feeling the guy recording was thinking it was a joke too until Stephano said F*** I just noticed you were streaming. It doesn't sound like Stephano meant for the public to know about his sex life.

He probably didn't actually abuse/rape a 14yr old, but it certainly sounds like he was bragging about banging one. If it is legal wherever it may have taken place and the teenager was fully willing, then that's not the real problem. The problem is he was bragging with such language about sex with a 14yr old with viewers who may be in locations where it is illegal and they will be offended. If it took place where legal consent is 15+, then he's got a big problem besides offending viewers. It sounds like it's being investigated further, which leads me to believe he did something not so legal:

"The full extent of the ramifications for Stephano's comments is yet to be determined. The decision to suspend him, without pay, for the rest of October is final, but the situation is still being reviewed internally at EG, and we do not consider the matter closed as of yet." [http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/11e2ld/stephano_suspended_by_eg_for_the_month_of_october/]

 

[ElPatron]

I disagree with the fallacy that being a pro means he has to be any different from any other gamer.

He should be able to say everything amateur players say everyday without everyone making a big deal about this.

Poor guy? Wtf? How can you have any sympathy for him? I mean, what the bloody f*** was he thinking? How is that even a joke (assuming it's not true)? "I abused a child" is appalling and he rightful got suspended (though you did acknowledged this).

Not being his first language, for all we know he could have been talking about a game he played against a kid.

And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

There's always a funny joke. You just haven't found it yet.

He probably didn't actually abuse/rape a 14yr old, but it certainly sounds like he was bragging about banging one. If it is legal wherever it may have taken place and the teenager was fully willing, then that's not the real problem.

He just said "abused". The person that mentioned fucking first was not him. And expressions like "abusing/fucking" can have thousands of meanings on the internet. Like I said, it could all refer to a game.

Example: dominating an adversary in a videogame has been known as "rape" since I remember.

The problem is he was bragging with such language about sex with a 14yr old with viewers who may be in locations where it is illegal and they will be offended.

God damn it, we don't want anyone to be offended. That's the worst thing that can happen. Let's all eat our meat under the table so that we don't offend the vegetarians. And homosexuals should act straight in public to avoid offending anyone.

As if that makes a difference. I'd call a 19 year old an adult and a 14 year old a child... I would say in your example both are pretty much equally reprehensible. 5 years is a lot of difference around that age.

So what? That situation can possibly be legal/fall under the Romeo and Juliet Laws in many countries. Are those cultures reprehensible? It's a five year difference, not a 10 year difference.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

So when do we start banning online console gamers for saying racial epithets and claiming to rape their opponents?

 

[Avaholic03]

Well, this clinches it. Sexual scandals? Esports can now join the big leagues of Baseball, Basketball, Hockey and the like.

Well, even among those so-called "big leagues" there's a world of difference around how they deal with this kind of thing. Sean Avery (NHL) was suspended for 5 games for making a comment about another player taking his "sloppy seconds". Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant (NBA) got away clean after raping a woman.

I for one am glad that esports is erring on the side of caution with this kind of situation. Even if no real wrong was done (i.e. he didn't actually assault a 14-year-old), he still needs to learn that as a public figure, people are looking up to him like it or not. And if he actually did what he said, he really should be banned for life. I hope esports never tolerates the kind of shit that happens in like lives of some "big league" sports players.

 

[-Samurai-]

The bigger problem is: Why the fuck are people acting like "professional gaming" is a thing?

Professional. Gaming.
Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

 

[The Great JT]

Ilyes, this Bud's for you.

 

[MyNameIsNowNotMyName]

one question comes to mind....who cares?

And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

and happy birthday

thanks man

And this is why rape jokes are not funny.

One bad joke does not make it unfunny.

they never were funny.

I don't know about you, but I've found some rape jokes hilarious.

 

[madster11]

Just like to point out that english isn't his native language, and even if he DID have sex with a 14 year old all the people on here calling it 'abuse' and 'rape' are sheltered fools who obviously never went to parties in high school or even understand basic human physiology.
No, you don't just suddenly 'like' sex on your 16/18th birthday and never want it before that. The human body is programmed to want it right from the onset of puberty - 12yo+. I have personally met early 15 year old girls who were completely DTF, who are illegal despite them acting and more importantly looking 17.
People who live in countries where the legal age is 15/16 understand this, and go by maturity, not a random age restriction. It's the people from countries with 18 or higher laws who get massively offended and start spewing around 'rape' like the fucking apostrophe sign as soon as anyone under the age of 16 is mentioned anywhere near the word sex.

NOW:
People are talking about how 'fuck are you streaming' is an admission of guilt. No it's bloody not. He might've started off quasi-serious, as in 'pwned this 14yo' but not realizing how it sounded until the other guys reaction because he's not a native english speaker - at which point he saw joke/distraction/self-jibe potential and added in a 'only milfs or young' afterward. He could've then realized what he said on a livestream where american viewers would start kicking up massive amounts of bullshit because 'OMG RAPE YOU GUYS' and was like 'fuck'.
He didn't admit shit in anything he said or did. It seems like he made a small joke after using english in a slightly weird way, which suddenly blew up once he realized what he said would be sent around the world instead of between people who could get that he was poking fun at his error and just laugh and get on with their lives.


If this is the direction professional gaming is going, as in the complete 'PC' way with massive fines for the wrong word, professional gaming can go fuck itself and be ignored by me just as hard as any other sport franchise where a player saying the wrong thing around the wrong crowd can lose millions. Don't like something someone says? Fine. Be offended. Just shut the fuck up about it and stop trying to have the world change to fit your pathetic little self. You can be offended without causing a massive shitstorm. Soon we'll be banning motherfucking colours on cars because black wagons remind peoples of hearses and that offends them.

 

[Legion]

I get the impression seeing as English isn't his first language that he meant 'abused' as in 'rape', and 'rape' as in the idiotic yet popular slang term used in gaming for kicking somebodies arse in a game.

May be wrong, but that's pretty much the first thing I thought of when I saw he wasn't English.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Wait wait wait, he actually get paid to be a pro gamer? (Before you asked, I'm not exactly familiar with the whole pro gamer stuff other than you have to be really good at it and compete for it.)

 

[Soak]

I abused a 14 year old once.

My army of marines absolutely destroyed his base thanks to my strategic genius.

Problem?

No problem, because you immediatly clarified what you meant and you're not a person of public interest. "Stephano" didn't and he is, so there's a difference.

Eh. Some people say shit. Who cares?

You should, if you think of yourself as a respectable member of the gaming community, you should stand for it, whenever there's a situation this community might make a spectacular land in the dirt in the public eye, which it is currently creating more and more opportunities for.

*snip*

And i think you are twisting the point to your likelihood, which doesn't make it right. If, as a pro, he shouldn't be different than any other gamer, then why is he earning huge money for playing games? Why are his games/matches promoted and streamed all around the world? Why does that not account to any other gamer? Because there is a difference. He became a representative of gaming and now he has to act like one, which means applying to the social rules of public behaviour. If you don't like those rules, that's another thing, you can work to change those, but until then, people of public interest can't say everything without getting the corresponding feedback. Also, wanna tell me the probable reason child abuse isn't mentioned in the video you're referencing? Well, i'll do it myself: It's because child abuse is another matter than eating meat, expressing homosexuality in public, or even consuming goods from unfair, or even inhuman production. It is so because vegetarians, homosexuals, fair trade and human right supporters as well as (most) oppressed social groups are somewhat capable of defending themselfs. There are exceptions, but those are just as delicate as child abuse. Imagine a journalist, or even politician making a statement supporting the state-as-is in north Korea - say hallo to another person being condemned by the public, for good reasons.

So when do we start banning online console gamers for saying racial epithets and claiming to rape their opponents?

Very likely won't be long. Look at the other matter from Street Fighter x Tekken, shows where this is going.

*snip*

Ok, then elaborate me pls. It's just that, statistically speaking, most victims of child abuse aren't able to properly expres their victimization and/ or aren't heard by their respective legal guardian. That's why many cases of child abuse aren't recognized until the victims grow to their middle age and build the strength to resolve the issue. That's also the case with many victims of "adult" sexual abuse. I know, that for young people most laws appear like major resctriction and discrimination, been there just some years ago, but in fact, young people in their maturing process are vulnurable to being exploited (abused) in many, many ways and should be protected from that. Sure, the first person to protect them are their parrents and other close, familiar guardians, but in reality, unfortunately, that isn't working all the time, up to not very often. That's why there has to be other means, for example laws, to protect the maturing process, until the individual is capable of expressing and defending itself. Sure, some aren't even capable when they are "mature", some never are and sure it could be done in many better ways, some ways are definetly shit, but you have to draw a line at some point and those are the current perimeters. I think, Cox would approve.
In his home country, it definetly is illegal. I think he knows that and the consequences for violating thoses rules/laws, even if he never violated them himself.

*snip*

First, i don't find him guilty of rape by any means until now, but he's innocent until proven guilty in that matter. That doesn't affect how i think about his management treating the matter until now.
Another thing is, you are right, one doesn't just like sex on their xy birthday. Some biologosists and sociologists even state, that the disposition is already set in infantility, for example including a "sexual oral phase" before the age of 2, which is then dropped and later reoccurs. Does that mean, you can have oral sex with an infantile? Fuck no (gah, can't resist bad word-play anymore)! The thing is, if you know how, which is rather easy as an "adult", it is just to easy to exploit the occuring sex-drive of an adolescent. In this state, you can hardly say if the adolescent is mature enough or not,or if or when it is actually affection or love and when it is exploitation, that's why you have to draw a hard line, which is definetly set above 12 and in most cases above 15 or even 18, to encourage that first sexual experiences are made within same-age groups.

Slightly OT: Just had a discussion a short while ago about the age of political participation, which is, in the last decades, constantly lowering in europe. I very much support higher political awareness at younger ages, though i am very glad i didn't have to realy bother about this, but could bother about other things when i was 15. And, when i look at adolescents presenting political symbols they don't understand yet, i'm certain it is good they aren't entitled to alrady participate in this matter, but still have time to further learn about it. And again, sure there are many, many adults who have no real idea what they are doing in a political context, too. And again, there has to be a line somewhere and best thing to better the general situation is to first increase political awareness "everywhere".