NRG Esports released Super Smash Bros. best player Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada on Thursday after allegations that he had a sexual relationship in April 2017 with fellow professional Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth, who was a minor at the time. .
“This morning we learned of disturbing information involving Nairo,” NRG said in a statement posted on Twitter. “We take these situations incredibly seriously. NRG has severed all ties with Nairo.”
The charges against Quezada, then 20, were released by Lauth on Thursday morning. Lauth described multiple sexual encounters that she said occurred during CEO Dreamland in Orlando, Florida.
In that post, Lauth also alleged that Quezada and his brother and manager, Kelvin “ksizzle” Quezada, paid him money to remain silent about the encounter and asked him to lie about it when another community member first made accusations at the week. After Lauth’s post on Thursday, Nairoby Quezada deleted her Twitter account after releasing a statement in which she said, “I am not making excuses. My behavior was wrong.” Kelvin Quezada made a post on his brother’s Discord server, thanking Nairo fans and saying “it’s over” and “Nairo is over”.
Lauth’s publication comes amid a wave of allegations of sexual abuse, discrimination and pedophilia in the gaming and e-sports communities over the past three weeks, with more than 200 complaints against some of the most powerful of those industries. On the last day, other allegations have been leveled against Super Smash Bros. and figures from the fighting game community.
Community member Kaitlyn “KTDominate” Redeker alleged that senior commentator and former Twitch employee D’Ron “D1” Maingrette raped her while they were both drunk after Smash the Record, a charity event in Orlando in November 2016. In a statement released Thursday, Maingrette said he did not recall the encounter due to alcohol poisoning.
Evolution Championship Series placed director Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar on administrative leave Thursday after allegations surfaced that he was sexually harassing a member of the community, who spoke about the experience on Wednesday.
“The behavior in these allegations goes directly against Evo’s mission to build a safe and welcoming environment for all of our players and assistants,” said a statement posted on EVO’s Twitter account. “We take this responsibility seriously. Accordingly, Joey has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by a third party.”
On Wednesday, professional Smash player Troy “Puppeh” Wells said he had a sexual relationship with commentator Cinnamon “Cinnpie” Dunson in the summer of 2016, when he was 14 and she was 24. Dunson did not respond to the allegations. .
Lauth was kicked out of many Super Smash Bros. tournaments in August after he said he asked professional teammate Elliot “Ally” Bastien Carroza-Oyarce to launch two different games against Sota “Zackray” Okada and Nairo in 2GG: Prime Saga and MomoCon in the spring. of 2019. In July 2019, Carroza-Oyarce, 29, was also barred from tournaments after admitting he had a relationship with Lauth, who was 16 at the time.
On Thursday, T1 released Smash player Jason “Anti” Bates on “serious allegations of misconduct”, which he discussed on Twitter.
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