One of the biggest advertisers of League of Legends Esports is severing relations with Riot Games after allegations of sexual harassment against the company’s CEO, Nicolo Laurent.
Alienware will end its global e-sports partnership more than 10 months in advance. In discussions with Riot, Alienware cited its concern about the game developer’s public image amid allegations of harassment and other controversies, sources familiar with these talks told Dot Esports.
The agreement between Alienware & Riot was originally due to expire in January 2022, according to sources. Riot removed the Alienware brand from all of its competitors turns on broadcasts last weekend.
“Alienware has been a valuable partner for Riot since January 2019,” Riot Games told Dot Esports in a statement. “We are unable to comment on our agreement with them at this time due to confidentiality obligations. As we continue discussions with them, we remove their brand from our broadcasts. “
The business encompassed sponsorship for the entire world turns on sports scene, including LCS, LEC, LCK, LPL, Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship.
Alienware, which is owned by Dell, made its decision to close the deal after Riot and its CEO were accused of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in a civil lawsuit by former executive assistant Sharon O’Donnell.
Previous allegations of sexual harassment at Riot, as well as the public repercussions surrounding LEC’s July 2020 partnership with NEOM, an urban enterprise supported by the state of Saudi Arabia, also played a role in the decision.
The revolt was first attacked for internal culture issues in August 2018, after Kotaku reported numerous allegations of sexism and sexual abuse. After that report, Riot apologized and said it would publish a 16-month “cultural transformation schedule”.
But the company remains under fire, as more allegations come to light.
In December 2018, Riot suspended chief operating officer Scott Gelb after a report emerged outlining allegations of inappropriate conduct, including hitting male employees on their genitals as a joke. In a statement released after the report, Riot said Gelb would be suspended without pay and undergo additional training before returning to the company. In March, Gelb still served as Riot’s COO.
Last summer, Riot found itself in another public relations crisis amid LEC’s agreement with NEOM.
Riot commentators themselves criticized the NEOM deal because of Saudi Arabia’s treatment of the LGBTQ + community, as described in a report by The Guardian. The deal also attracted criticism because of the role of the Saudi state in the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi (a US intelligence report released in February directly linked Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the assassination of Khashoggi) and because the land for development is home to the Huwaitat indigenous tribe. Riot ended its partnership with NEOM days after its announcement, after the public controversy.
Alienware also sponsors Team Liquid and has appointment rights to its training facilities in Los Angeles and Utrecht, The Netherlands.
O’Donnell filed a lawsuit against Riot and Laurent in January in California. In that complaint, she claimed that Laurent made sexist comments, including that employees should “have children” to relieve stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and that he invited her on trips unrelated to work with him. O’Donnell joined Riot in 2017 and says she was unfairly fired in July 2020 for reporting Laurent to human resources.
Riot denied that it fired her because of that report and said it received complaints about O’Donnell from several employees during her time at the company. Riot said it opened an independent investigation into Laurent’s behavior.
“The main thing to give Rioters confidence in our commitment to cultural transformation is to take all allegations of harassment or discrimination very seriously, thoroughly investigating the allegations and taking action against anyone found to have violated our policies,” said the spokesman for Riot, Joe Hixson, to the Daily Esports in a demonstration. “In this case, as some of the claims relate to an executive leader, a special committee on our Board of Directors is overseeing the investigation, which is being conducted by an outside law firm.
“Our CEO has promised full cooperation and support during this process, and we are committed to ensuring that all complaints are fully explored and properly resolved.”
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more sports news and analysis.