StarCraft II pro gamer Stephano suspended and fined for sexual comments
19-year old French StarCraft II player Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri suspended without pay for the month of October for recent comments made during a livestream.
French StarCraft II superstar Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri, who recently signed a new deal with the prominent Evil Geniuses organization one month ago, has been suspended by his team without pay for the month of October. The action, taken after Stephano's comments were broadcast live online, mean he will now miss DreamHack Bucharest and The GD Invitational.
Earlier this week during a live stream on TwitchTV by fellow Starcraft II player and friend Team Dignitas' Samayan "BlinG" Kay, Stephano sent a private message over Battle.net regarding sex with a minor. “Sam, I abused a child yesterday”, Stephano said to Bling in a screenshot grabbed during the stream. “14 yo,” Stephano continued, after a response of “wtf” by Bling. “I might only be interested in milfs and kids now.”
Stephano apologized on Twitter later that day saying it was just a “private joke, nothing serious”. Some fans did not feel his apology was satisfactory, and began to email Evil Geniuses sponsors about his actions, including Intel, Monster Energy, and Steel Series. Following this, Stephano tweeted that it was “people's stupidity” that caused him to regret going professional with StarCraft, and that in turn caused him to play poorly. Evil Geniuses has issued its official response, addressing not only Stephano but the comments that he made.
“Today, Evil Geniuses announces that French Zerg player Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri has been suspended without pay for the remainder of October, following his recent inappropriate comments. We sincerely apologize to the respective organizers of these tournaments for any inconvenience the last-minute cancellations may cause”. the statement reads. “That apology, however, obviously comes as secondary to a much more significant and direly-needed apology for Stephano’s inexcusable comments themselves. An apology in his own words can be found at the bottom of this post, but additionally, everyone at Evil Geniuses – including management, players, and staff – would like to sincerely apologize for these comments. They do not reflect our company’s sense of morality, behavior and propriety, and they will not be tolerated.”
Stephano has also issued his own apology. “I want to very sincerely apologize to all of my fans, my teammates and management at EG, all of EG’s sponsors, and the rest of the community for my comments last week. They were insensitive, inappropriate, way over the line, and are deserving of the serious ramifications I have received from my team. I accept responsibility for my mistake, and I will be more careful in the future.”
Evil Geniuses went on to say that although Stephano has been penalized and suspended for October, the matter is not closed within the organization and more ramifications may be dealt out. Although suspended in October, another recent tweet by Stephano suggests he will be heading to Korea in the meantime, with many speculating he will play in next season's GSL Code S.
In June, Stephano was arrested at the Silver nightclub in Jönköping, Sweden, following his attendance at DreamHack Summer.
The reactions are disgusting. He made a shitty joke to his friend and people take no pause to unleash their inner authoritarian and use thin emotional excuses to facilitate what they really want: control and regulation. A human-being who cannot simply ignore scenarios that he is not coerced into is a human-being who has lost his autonomy; to be independent agents is our most distinguished feature. To rely on institutional powers to make you feel safe and in control is to dehumanize yourself. This does not call for an apology, nor does it call for punishment. If you are offended by this, then that is your problem. Did he constrain you and talk things you didn't want to hear into your ear? No. And to all the young adults who want to brandish their new-found 'maturity' by calling any dissent to popular opinion as 'childish' or a need to 'grow up', just fuck off. To become a hypersensitive automaton that fetishes only for the solidification of institutional overreach is not to grow up.
I can't believe people get paid to do nothing but play SC2.
n0matter I know, right?! Makes you wish your life didn't suck so much.
Sahle123 I promise you that I will never regret pursuing a life of education,family and a lucrative career in lieu of failing out of high school and putting off college in order to pursue a career in a video gaming that no one will remember 10 years from now. Oh, and being caught for making "silly" pedophilia comments on the job, being reprimanded and then blaming the public for "not getting it" afterwards. If my life sucks, this hairy frog must be freebasing prozac just to get going in the morning. Poor bastard.
Since he was French, I'm guessing he just surrendered without a fight to the cops.
BarkingSpider81 /golfclap......well done sir
He confessed he raped a 14 yo and that's all he got? Awww yes, he said "lol jk" when he got caught, still cops aren't investigating?
s4dn3s5 No one said rape. Why do you think it was rape?
gufberg s4dn3s5 if she's 14, it doesnt matter. its rape. rape doesnt mean physically constrained sexual abuse. there is a mental component as well.
bmgd70 s4dn3s5 Ehm, i think we both know you're wrong here. If the story is true, she likely did it consentually. As others has pointed out alot of young girls will date high school guys. And i agree - it is somewhat disturbing. But calling it rape is just bullshit.
gufberg s4dn3s5 Really? Consent from a 14 year old is way different than consent from an actual adult. If you disagree, you should take a sociology/psychology class, have a daughter or maybe even seek help. would you agree with your comments if she was a 10 year old girl consented.
bmgd70 s4dn3s5 a 14 year old is likely to be sexually developed. A 10 year old is not. End of discussion.I should seek help? What are you suggesting exactly? That i am a sick pervert for admitting that our instituted laws and the way our biology functions are two totally different things?
gufberg s4dn3s5 my point about the 10 year old is where do you draw the line? and i like how you say "is likely to be developed". and if you believe that is okay for an 18 year old male to have sex with 14 year old girl just because she is "sexually developed" and she consents, then yes you are a pervert and you need help. Our biology functions differ from our mental functions and capacities. So a 14 year old girl, just because she has biologically developed does not mean she can go have sex with a 18 year old male. Girls are sexually developed at very young ages. Based on your reasoning, it would be okay if a nine year old girl who has developed has consensual sex with a 40 year old man.
bmgd70 s4dn3s5 Stretching my argument ad absurdium doesn't make you right. Quite contrarily it just proves the futility of your argument. Also inferring that im a pervert with no knowledge of psychology or sociology - two widely different social sciences of which i actually have a rudimentary understanding - seems like a personal attack stemming from a lack of actual arguments. I doubt there is such a thing as a fully sexually developed 9 year old. A fully developed 14 year old who WANTS to have sex with a 19 year old? Is that wrong? no. Do i approve of it? no. But my opinion doesn't matter. Only the opinions of those involved in the act. But then ofcourse i disagree with you - so i must be a pervert.
It seems the gaming industry is trying to make children in general less of a target in any case that is possible. I mean, hell, you can't even kill kids in Elder Scrolls games or Fallout games (not including the original Fallout games on PC)
I Love how they make these guys seem like super stars or actors. Starcraft player makes headlines. Big F***in whop di DA.
greek5 Yep, its a joke. What age to they retire at? I mean gimme a break.
greek5 Sure i dont care much either. But neither do i care if some football star does something. In the end none of it is newsworthy.
And this is why kids shouldn't be paraded around as "pro gamers" or paid to play games.
do people not realize that what you say in a public domain, can actually end up in........lets say.......public???
they should have arrested him for those god damn pants, a fashion crime of epic proportions, dear god those pants...
THEY HURT ME....
I'm sure it was true too so all you d-bags can keep defending a fucking chester. And even if it wasn't, what kind of person "jokes" about that kind of shit, I mean seriously.
CKeenan07 Exactly. His joke would not be funny at all if he had just invented the incident. It has to be an insider joke based on real events.
Im suprised everyone here rolls with 'ouh, it was a bad joke' lol yea right.
This is absurd. Someone's feelings getting hurt is a warrant for an arrest these days now?
params7
People like you always talk tough, but when you're ridiculed, you hide behind your mom.
It seems people are looking at the age of his victim and overlooking the fact that said victim is indeed just that: a victim.
Better call the cops, someone's feelings were hurt.
Aren't these guys called "EVIL geniuses?" Come on. This guy is just being a jackass and I really doubt anything like this actually happened, but if it did, it's a job for the authorities and no one else. I think his punishment is fair for the comments. When you're being sponsored, you have to watch what you say. It's the way of the world.
i don't want to live on this planet anymore...or the same universe
he does that kind of things. this is why i don't like him. here is another:
"HasuObs stated on his twitter account: "damnit, so nervous about todays TSL4 qualifier results @_@", in reply, Stephano, maybe mad because he lost [0-2] to Cytoplams, maybe as a joke, or in true I do not care Stephano, replied to HasuOBS's twitt: "maybe start kill some jews", a rather jokeless or even better a bad joke. The Mousesports organization had to reply to Stephano "You just went way too far Stephano, seriously.'"
galeta wtf the guy sounds like an idiot of indescribable proportions
Definitely a fucked up joke, if it is one that is. None of us were there so guess we'll just have to see if the police go through with an investigation.
Though I'll admit I make some fucked up jokes with my friends in private, nothing involving minors, but still. Considering his "friend" posted the picture it makes me wonder if he actually wants to be on the team. Wouldn't be the first time someone says something stupid to be let out of a contractual agreement.
Hear he was arrested for the hair alone.
"My comments were taken way out of context. When I said I wanted to 'Zerg-rush her Terran bunker with my Hydralisk all night long' I meant it literally!"
Ok, so he's an idiot. We know that. The real question is, was he joking, or was he for real?
Everyone keeps talking about if he "abused a child", but he was talking about a 14 year old girl. Illegal or not, 14 year old girls have boyfriends all over the world, and girls that age sometimes date guys who are 17, 18, and even 19. That includes half of the high school football players on most of the highschool football teams in America. And in Europe where this guy is from, it would especially not be a big deal. So all these comments about "abusing a child" are pretty inaccurate, considering this. Try using your brains, people.
Falru I saw the pic, that doesn't change my point that 14 year old girls date boys all the time, and are often sexually active. So I think a lot of you are over-reacting, a bit. It's not even necessarily illegal for a 19 year old to have sex with a 14 year old, depending on where you live.
Andrew1073 EventualDecline Falru Tell that to every society ever. I'm not condoning it, but it HAS been condoned in every major society. People used to take wives at 12! Don't act so high and mighty.
Andrew1073 Falru So it's not sick for an 18 year old to have sex with a 14 year old girl, because he's a popular, well liked football player, but if a 19 or 20 year old does the same thing, it suddenly becomes sick? Why?
EventualDecline ^^
EventualDecline "in Europe where this guy is from, it would especially not be a big deal"European here: 14 y/o is a no-go here if you don't have 14 y/o yourself (At least in Spain, France and Germany). Also, we are talking about the comment it self, not his intentions. So don't talk nonsense, please.
Warlord_Irochi The legal age in Germany for sex is 14. In Spain it's 13. In France it's 15, so it would be illegal there, true. You're wrong about Germany and Spain though. It's only 14 in Italy also.
Andrew1073That is correct, but in my opinion it's no worse than a 13 year old having sex with another 13 year old. Hopefully the 30 year old is more mature and understands what they are getting into, and not knocking up a teen.
But really, what makes it "wrong"? Because the law (in your country) says it is? If that was the age of consent in your own country, you would find it completely normal. You would find it weird that in other countries you had to wait that much longer for it to be legal. How you're conditioned to think about these things is all down to culture.
Right now racism against blacks is not something to tolerate, or slavery. But it was only decades ago that people thought completely differently. Slavery was a very normal thing, not abhorred at all. The zeitgeist shifts, and so do people's thinking.
Andrew1073 Tell me what the difference is between a 13+13 and a 13+18. What makes one more acceptable than the other?
EventualDecline What do you mean by "all these comments about 'abusing a child'"? Those were his words! Also, illegal or not is actually a pretty big distinction...
wait a min is he only 14 "O.o".. he still a kid himself... lol
ImBack558855 he's 19...
Yojimbooh ooh ok..
And people think professional athletes are immature...
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Call of Duty map removed at request of Muslim gamers
Activision temporarily pulls Favela multiplayer map from Modern Warfare 2 after users find holy writings in map's bathroom. Full Story
- Posted Oct 8, 2012 6:45 am PT
-
Fox developing Bad Company TV show?
Hollywood news site says network planning hour-long action-comedy based on EA's shooter series to be written by Alias producer and assisted by Adam Sandler's production company. Full Story
- Posted Oct 8, 2012 10:59 am PT
Featured Stories
-
Treyarch defends Call of Duty game engine
Design director David Vonderhaar says he is baffled by fan issues with game engine, says "It runs at 60 [frames per second]...what exactly is there to be upset about?" Full Story
- Posted Oct 10, 2012 7:05 am PT
-
Gears of War movie revived - Report
Hollywood news site says Creative Artists Agency "eager" to meet with producers in weeks ahead to get back to work on movie. Full Story
- Posted Oct 9, 2012 3:37 pm PT
-
New Microsoft rules prohibit users from profiting on created content
New Game Content Usage rules bar content creators from making money from their creations through YouTube, Vimeo, other destinations. Full Story
- Posted Oct 9, 2012 11:24 am PT
-
Ubisoft teases 'big' Splinter Cell announcement
French publisher reveals teaser image depicting what appears to be lower portion of Sam Fisher's face, beckons community to "like" page to reveal more. Full Story
- Posted Oct 8, 2012 11:30 am PT
-
Bridgestone claims Kevin Butler not in their commercial
Tire manufacturer admits Jerry Lambert appeared in advertisement, but not PlayStation product pitcher Kevin Butler. Full Story
- Posted Oct 9, 2012 8:05 am PT
Submit News
Related Game
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
- Publisher(s): Blizzard Entertainment
- Genre: Strategy
- Release: Jul 27, 2010 (US)
- ESRB: T
Recent News
-
Black Ops II gets $50 DLC pass
Four map pack and Zombie expansions for upcoming Call of Duty included with season pass; all DLC to again release for Xbox 360 first; Call of Duty:...
