Update:
Felix Lengyel, aka xQc of the Dallas Fuel, has been fined $2,000 and suspended for four games by the league. Atop that, the Fuel suspended Lengyel for the remainder of stage 1, which means until Feb. 10.
Original Article:
An Overwatch player on the Dallas Fuel team in this year’s Overwatch League has been suspended for comments after a match.
Overwatch pro Félix “xQc” Lengyel of the Dallas Fuel has been suspended from the Overwatch League in the wake of a homophobic insult directed at Austin “Muma” Wilmot that came shortly after Wilmot’s Houston Outlaws swept the Fuel 4-0 on Thursday. As reported by Kotaku, Wilmot used the line “rolled and smoked” during the OWL stream, a crack that Lengyel is known for, which led Lengyel—who didn’t play in the match—to react angrily in a post-match stream.
“No, you didn’t smoke shit. Shut your fucking mouth,” Lengyel said. “Go back there, suck a fat cock. I mean, he would like that.”
The comments come just days after a transphobic ad accidentally ran on the Twitch stream for the Overwatch League.
A public apology was issued on Twitter over the incident.
The team will be taking disciplinary action related to recent comments made by Felix “@xQc” Lengyel. xQc will not be active for tonight’s match. Additional details forthcoming.
— Dallas Fuel (@DallasFuel) January 19, 2018
Said apology created a slew of feedback from commentators and fans. Some people correctly asserted that this kind of behavior is never OK, others cast the incident as a mistake borne of immaturity and stress. Much like the controversy over Pewdiepie’s racist comments, if someone’s default response when emotional is to spew bigotry, they probably aren’t making a mistake. Odds are that they are fully aware of their behavior and its impact. How many times can people engage in bigotry and still get excused for it?
