Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, one of the most successful competitive players of all time and a five-time Evolution Championship Series champion, decided not to participate in Evo this year amid allegations of sexual misconduct against the Evo co-founder and president, Joey “MrWizard” Cuéllar, who has been placed on administrative leave.
SonicFox made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday, simply stating that they will not participate in Evo, which this year will be an online-only event.
Also, I will no longer participate in Evo online.
– SonicFox 1312 (@SonicFox) July 2, 2020
“I cannot, in good conscience, participate in an event with the accusations of one of the main hosts of that event. It just doesn’t sit well with me,” SonicFox told ESPN.
Evo placed Cuellar on administrative leave Wednesday pending a third-party investigation as a result of the publicly-charged charges against him. On Thursday, a Twitter user accused Cuellar of inappropriate behavior towards him and other children during the 1990s and 2000s.
The allegations against Cuellar come amid a string of allegations against others in the sexual abuse fighting game community. SonixFox also tweeted support for those in the community who have been speaking, saying, “It has to get worse before it gets better. Praising the bravery of everyone in the community right now. You have my support.”
Other members of the fighting game community have also decided not to participate in Evo in light of the allegations against Cuellar, including pitchers Stephen “Sajam” Lyon, Steve “Tasty Steve” Scott and James Chen. FGC-focused organizations like EQNX Gaming and Brutal Democracy have also decided to boycott Evo. Derek “Nakkiel” Bruscas, Steve “Lord Knight” Barthelemy and Jachin “SuperKawiiDesu” Harte are among several competitors in the fighting game community who have tweeted that they will not participate in Evo in their respective titles.
Evo is slated to take place as a fully online event in a weekend series from July 4 to August 2. Despite the accusations against Cuellar, all signs point to the event continuing as planned and there has been no Evo announcement of cancellations.
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