Esports Awards remove nominee following sexual assault allegations

The Photographer of the Year nominee has since been removed from the voting page of their website and will not be allowed to attend the ceremony in Arlington this November.

A few days previously, Combo Queens put out a Tweet about the same individual saying they will not be working with them again following women expressing their discomfort with the individual.

Multiple women have shared stories with each other and the former nominee is accused of taking advantage of and assaulting the women involved while sharing hotel rooms with them. There is a Facebook post, which names the individual, that details these accusations.

Replies to their Tweets have also since been flooded by people 'calling out' their behaviour, with the account not sending a Tweet since 8th August. The bio also still states they are a 2019 @EsportsAwards Photographer of the Year Finalist. Retweets in support of the 'Women of the FGC' panel can still be seen on the profile too.

The removed nominee was present and working at EVO 2019, with allegations coming out soon after the event from within the FGC community. At EVO itself, multiple incidents occurred, with Zorine being assaulted at an after party and drinks being spiked with drugs intended for women at the event.

In recent years, the fighting games community has had more than its fair share of sexual misconduct cases, with more individuals being 'exposed' and held to account for this behaviour.

Andre "OMGItzAndre" Howard was banned from multiple FGC events in 2018 following accounts of toxic behaviour as well as accusations of both physically and sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend at a 2015 tournament. 28-year-old Elliot Bastien "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce retired from competitive Smash last month after admitting to dating a 16-year-old while 27-years-old at the time.

For legal reasons we don't wish to name the accused but fully support the Esports Awards' decision to remove the individual from their nominations.