The German team GamerLegion has secured the services of a women’s team for esports in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). However, one of the players was no longer part of the team after just 2 days and was immediately fired. Shortly after the signing, accusations arose against the 20-year-old Irish player Chloe “KittyTM” Geaney, alleging she made racist remarks.
This was the announcement:
- Gamer Legion announced on September 23 that they have taken over the roster of “Let her Cook”, a women’s team in CS:GO that was previously without an esports organization.
- The team consisted of 3 women who had previously played for Astralis W, and 2 new players: The team was to compete under the name GL Prism.
- From now on, the team was to compete for Gamer Legion in the “Impact League”.
Counter-Strike 2 is set to launch today:
This is how the women were presented: In a video on Twitter, the new signing was introduced coolly. It played with the idea that “GamerLegion” are like Roman legionnaires.
20-Year-Old Accused of Using the N-Word Multiple Times
What went wrong? Immediately after the signing, a user on Twitter came forward and said it was very disappointing to see that one of the new players, the Irish KittyTM, had gotten a spot.
There are several screenshots that allegedly prove that she is a person who openly expresses racist views and therefore should not be signed by any organization.
The Twitter user then posted a Discord chat with a person who, according to their statement, was Kitty_TM. In the chat, this person made racist remarks and was generally terrible.
A second Twitter user then sent another racist statement from the player to GamerLegion and asked if they were okay with having an openly racist person in their ranks (via twitter).
This was the reaction: GamerLegion fired the player on September 25, just 2 days after her hire, and strongly condemned discrimination of any kind. The immediate termination of Kitty_TM was deemed “inevitable” (via Twitter).
Esports Athletes Face a Dark Past
What it’s about: This is a case of “the internet doesn’t forget”. Anyone planning to earn money professionally as an esports athlete should behave somewhat decently from the beginning of their internet presence; otherwise, the past will catch up with them.
Even things that people said or did while they were still minors can abruptly end careers: nothing expires, and particularly in the case of racist or homophobic statements, there is no puppy protection.
In the case of the Irish player, it’s worth noting that “women in esports” are already a red flag for some esports athletes and Twitter users: they scrutinize this closely and look for misconduct.
Once such allegations are public, an esports organization has no choice but to respond with a dismissal, as the team is reliant on a good reputation for their advertising partners.
Update September 29, 5:08 PM: One day after the Irish professional player, another player has left the GamerLegion team:
German team signs 5 women for CS:GO – 22-year-old leaves after 3 days and vile accusations
