Timo ‘Taimou’ Kettunen, a member of competitive Overwatch‘s Team EnVyUs, was fined by the South Korean esports network OGN for making “a lewd comment” in a Twitch chat about one of its interviewers.
Taimou made his sexist remarks during an interview with Thomas “Morte” Kerbusch of REUNITED after the latter was defeated 3-0 by Team Runaway. The comments included “gonna check those pantsus when im getting interviewed LUL,” and “I wanna explore that interviewer girls thighs Keepo.”
In a statement released yesterday announcing the fine, OGN cited its sexual harassment and penalty policies on which the decision to fine Taimous was based. The organisation defines sexual harassment as sexual advances or sexually offensive acts against another person that make them feel uncomfortable. In response to Taimou’s behaviour, OGN issued a revocation of the fight money for Friday’s match, valued at approximately $US630 ($827).
As a result of the incident, Taimou went on to offer an apology on Twitter,
“Yesterday, I made a terrible comment that I should not have made in Twitch chat about the OGN Interviewer. I acknowledge that my comment disgusted and offended many people, including the interviewer. I understand that my comment cannot be considered as just a joke and at the time i was careless in my thinking.
To everyone who was affected and hurt by my inconsiderate and brash actions, I hang my head in apology.
I am also very sorry for disappointing our loyal fans.”
I’m sorry (english)
Read: https://t.co/YpbiFZmm38
— Timo Kettunen (@EnVy_Taimou) October 14, 2016
Twitch chats are notoriously toxic forums filled with comments that vary from inappropriate to outright vile, and OGN’s channel for its APEX Overwatch league is no exception. Taimou was not alone in making sexist jokes about the South Korean interviewer, while others in the chat made disparaging remarks about the race or ethnicity of different players.
As was pointed out in a Reddit thread about the news, what might have easily gone ignored as just another day in the cesspool that is Twitch chat has instead been rightfully pounced upon. Taimou is not just another random commenter, but a central member of one of the best Overwatch teams in the world, and someone who the interviewer will have to work with in the future.
Comments
30 responses to “Pro Overwatch Player Fined For ‘Lewd Comment’ About Interviewer”
I went on a date last night. When we got to the restaurant while she was playing in her oversized bag I got out and opened the door for her. I got a really odd look. I then did the same when we walked in the restaurant and she told me she didnt need a man to show her benevolent sexist acts. I stared stunned for a moment then glanced at the guy waiting to take us in a just turned around and walked back to the car in silence.
Welcome to 2016. Where trying to make someone feel comfortable and appreciated in the moment makes you a sexist who isnt even worth explaining too. Just worth enough to be yelled at….
Not the right place and yes the guy was stupid for saying what he did but I just needed to vent that.
Is this like a new MRA media strategy or something? Because I’ve seen this exact same story posted in three different places in the last 12 hours with minor variations. So strange.
And yes you’re right, this article doesn’t have anything to do with what the lady made you feel uncomfortable for. Also, assuming the story is true, that’s a really damn weird thing to abandon a date for before you’ve even sat down. But thanks for sharing nonetheless I guess.
Should I be glad this is happening to multiple people or just sad. Im so confused right now
Dude you did nothing wrong. She was being a asshole. why the hell is it sexist? its GENTLEMAN behavior.
Being a GENTLEMAN in the way you describe assumes that women are incapable of performing minor tasks without your help. It is sexist. You might not mean it to be sexist, but it is. You don’t have to change your behaviour, but don’t be surprised if people don’t like it.
I don’t know what you’re calling sexist but that story above isn’t. Holding a door open for someone is basic courtesy, it has nothing to do with gender and it certainly doesn’t imply the person’s not capable of doing it themselves.
Not the story, the reaction. If he was holding the door because it was GENTLEMANLY (all caps for reasons, apparently), then he is being sexist. If he held the door open because it’s nice to do and he does it for everyone, then no problem.
I guess women aren’t nice then.
God I hate this attitude. How about you just don’t go through life ascribing assumptions to people?
The other day I helped a woman (not old, about 40) carry her shopping when I noticed she almost dropped the big ass bag of nappies she had. She actually said “Really?” to me when I offered to help. She was grateful, but I almost didn’t do it exactly because of people like you. I didn’t hold a door open for a woman because of people like you, then after I walked through, it occurred to me she had a big bag of luggage, so I went back and helped her. I stopped at a service station and a man and his two daughters waited whilst he held the door open for me. Should I assume he thinks I’m some kind of drooling incompetent? Or was he perhaps being polite?
If you don’t like people doing it, then inform them politely that they don’t need to. If it’s a stranger then perhaps just grin and bear it. I don’t like people cutting me off in traffic either, but I don’t pull up next to them at the lights and go nuts at them. Picking a fight over a polite act is so insulting and stupid that I can’t even describe it.
EDIT: I should add on topic… What a dickhead. To be fair though, at least he didn’t give one of those limp ass “I’m sorry if I offended anyone..” apologies, and just outright condemned it.
Same as with the other reply. I wasn’t replying to the story. I was replying to the sweeper who said that this is gentlemanly behaviour. All of these chivalric practices are based on the idea that women can’t or shouldn’t act like a normal person. It’s sexist, even when positive.
Saying/doing/thinking a positive racist thing is still racist ( saying Asians are good at mathematics is a decent example), so saying/doing/thinking a sexist thing (women are capable of emotion when men are not, for example) is still sexist. You should help a lady who is dropping her shopping all over the place. You should help a man, too. Being nice to people is totally cool. Being nice because that person probably owns a vagina is weird and should be labelled as such.
The problem is it’s impossible to explain all of that in a brief interaction. So it comes down only to what your pre-conceived notions are. Doing nice things for people is already hard enough.
Many women also like it when a potential partner does the things you’re describing. Not because they’re weak or incapable of doing them, but because it’s nice to be pampered this way sometimes. When I bring my GF breakfast in bed am I inferring she’s incapable of cooking breakfast? Where does it stop? Who gets to decide then what’s an acceptable favour and what’s “sexist”?
I heard someone describe this like an abusive partner. You drive past a restaurant and say “That looks like a nice place” and your partner whirls on you and shouts “OH I’M SORRY I CAN’T AFFORD TO TAKE US THERE!!”, because he just assumes it’s a dig at him. How about you just stop assuming things about people and insulting them by calling them sexist (yes, this is actually an insult)?
If you’re a woman on a date and that’s where you’re going to take the stand against the patriarchy and not be pampered in any way, then fine. Like I said, explain politely that your date doesn’t need to do these things for you. Perhaps even smile at them when you say it, so they know you’re not trying to be combative. Starting the date by calling them sexist seems a touch rude.
I can’t reply to your last post. too many nested replies.
Fair call on preconceived notions. But if all the people involved are reasonable, that kind of thing isn’t so difficult to work out. If someone thinks you’re doing it for reasons they dislike, they can say so and you can explain. In the case of the guy in the first comment, he clearly was doing it because she is female and not because he’s a polite person.
Bringing your girlfriend breakfast in bed isn’t the same as running in front of someone you met 5 minutes ago, grabbing the door, and expecting to be commended on how chivalrous you are. It’s not a fair comparison in any way. One is an established relationship where you are more or less expected to be nice to the other with no expectation of reciprocation and for no reason other than you like to be nice to them. The other is providing contextless services to a stranger based on assumed genital configuration. The second one is weird as shit.
The abusive partner comparison doesn’t really work, either. I have no power over the other commenter. We are not in an established relationship with barriers to entry and exit. There aren’t any physical, psychological, or emotional nuances to unpack. A guy on the internet decided to tell a story about how he met a stranger, acted strangely, was asked to not act strangely, got mad because the other person was completely correct about the reasons he acted strangely, and then complained in an unrelated conversation about how the problem was the woman.
Context is king in all of these situations. But really, why should she be the one to gently smile and nod, requesting ever-so-gently that perhaps he can maybe relax from being so nice? Why is he not taking the social cue? Why is it that when he behaves in a way she dislikes and she says so, he is unable of doing something as simple as saying “I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable. I just make a habit of being polite”? The social contract goes both ways.
I’m not the kind of guy to hold the door open for a lady, but I’d walk away immediately if the other person was making character judgments before we’d even entered the restaurant. I would rather date someone who is a bit more casual.
But yeah the story is not particularly relevant to the article.
By walking away based on a few comments on their thoughts on this apparently(?) contentious subject of “gender roles regarding the subject of doors”, aren’t you yourself making rash character judgements? My point is not that he shouldn’t think ill of her for saying something. I might have said something back to her if she had said it in a particularly rude manner At the end of the day she had her say and he can make the judgement as he wishes.
To throw away the entire night because of this seems bizzare to me. A dinner is a lot of conversations about a lot of topics. if you yourself are emotionally stable then there’s no reason that you can’t have a conversation about this with someone that feels quite passionately about the subject matter. For all you know getting to the root of her fear of men holding doors for her might lead to a damn interesting story. To bring video games back in the mix, it’s like rage quitting a coop game while still in the lobby. Which in this case is semi-literal in that they didn’t even make the dinner table and this non-drama happened in the lobby of the building…
I dunno. Maybe I just no longer have the ability to understand why people of all genders and races flip the fuck out over sweet diddly nothing.
*Feels old at 33*
If someone had a go at me for holding the door open, I’d feel pretty comfortable assuming that she’s not the girl for me and call the date off so we don’t waste each others time any further. Now of course, if she just politely said “you don’t need to do that”, that would be a different thing all together. Instead she ascribed and voiced a character judgment to the whole thing: “benevolent sexist acts” based on something a lot of people would call good manners and would do for either gender (maybe not the car door, but the restaurant door definitely).
I am going to assume she had her period. Hence why she was playing around in her bag and why she got cranky.
That’s a mighty big (sexist) assumption you’ve got going on there.
Saying it was a sexist act is a little too drastic. A polite, “I’m fine, you don’t need to hold open the door” would have got the message across with out the other person feeling like he did.
You didn’t think to just have a conversation about it?
Seriously if I’m reading this right, she said nothing the first time presumably trying to spare your feelings but the second time she mentioned it’s not something she appreciated.
Sure you intended to make her feel comfortable and appreciated but you did the exact opposite so she communicated it to you. At that point neither of you had done nothing wrong.
Then because she had an opinion that differed to hers you decided to be an asshole and just leave without a word.
None of which is relevant to this actual story which is about blatant workplace sexual harassment…
Honestly, if she had just mentioned it there wouldnt have been a problem. The issue came about from the huge scene which she created to ensure everyone around knew she was offended. There was nothing rational about the situation so instead of instigating further I left. There was no winning and clearly if this was they type of person she was the night was never going to go anywhere anyway. People can white knight this shit all they want but being part of a scene like that is something no well meaning person deserves.
I guess your reaction might be fair depending on the size of the melodrama she created over the door. Having not been there I won’t make any judgements. Maybe she was genuinely ranting and raving, maybe because you were slighted you took the scene to be a bigger drama than it was (I have the world’s most annoying mate who does just this). Either way, this is a totally inappropriate and irrelevant place to bring it up.
Completely inappropriate and irrelevant and yet one of the most level headed and rational bits of discussion Ive seen on the topic. Gotta love how things play out online sometimes 😉
hold the door open for anyone.
you wouldnt let a door slam in the face of a 80yo elderly man would you?
A great point. It depends on how strong.
See the issue is you see it as winning.
Could have been mature and even just said “I don’t think this is going to work out” before leaving.
It’s hard to judge her actions when I only have your biased side, but even assuming it’s exactly as you suggest you don’t come off great.
Plus using this article to vent just screams of needing to justify casual sexism.
Meanwhile, I had a roast beef sandwich for lunch. It had lettuce too.
Sean Murray’s favorite tea is Barrys
See, if you weren’t doing it because it was a benevolent sex act, you could have said something like “I open the door for people because I like to be polite, not because of their gender” and then gone on with the evening like it wasn’t a problem.
Good job proving to her that you were doing exactly what she thought you were.
Nobody is obliged to accept anything from you, even if you have good motives.
Sorry, are you melting here and pretty much acting pathetic because a woman you barely know was mad at you?
Really? You just needed to vent about that in the comments of this particular story? Nice hijack.
Dude, it’s opening a door FFS, it’s the most basic courteous act that most people would do for anyone. It’s a pretty good judge of character if someone is going to respond negatively to such a trivial, kind act. I would have left as well, not worth the effort.
Women experiences inform them that even the most innocuous thing can lead to expectations. With a guy they don’t know, just accepting a favour, smiling at them, returning a hello can lead to escalation of attention and anger when that escalation is not matched by the woman.
Now this is more a date situation, but what we do not know in this story is what perspective the woman had of the situation. If any of his comments, actions gave her a bad impression of what he expected from her then she could have been trying to shut that down. His turning and walking away suddenly impresses me that this wasn’t isolated and more had gone on than was mentioned in the story.
But that is even of the story is true. It is the same story (with minor variations) that continually reappears. The angry SJW who is rude to a poor man who was just trying to be polite. It seems to hit a nerve with a lot of people. They find it really easy to slot in the hated SJW image in their head into the story.
And why post it here? In the end the comments become about this. About us arguing over a story which appears a lot more sympathetic to the man, in an article where the mans actions are way less defensible.
There are a number of assumptions there, but I can’t argue that it’s a suspiciously out of place sentiment.
You’re probably some weird m’lady le internet nerd and she wanted to get the fuck out of there.