The wave of sexual assault allegations that has crashed into seemingly every part of the entertainment industry found its way into the fighting game community last week, as Andre “OMGItzAndre” Howard has been banned from several upcoming events due to allegations surrounding him.
As Shoryuken first reported, OMGItzAndre was the subject of an entire episode of The OnBlastShow, which did -- pardon the pun -- put him on blast. OMGItzAndre blamed alcohol in a video after the episode aired, his alleged victim contradicted it in a Facebook post, and, thus, the bannings began. Ian Davis of Kumite in Tennessee was the first to tweet that he wasn’t welcome:
I hate to do this and I've been deliberating all day, but I feel saying this is necessary. pic.twitter.com/4Nfpy5XHe2
— Ian Davis (@KITVandy) January 31, 2018
Eric “Big E” Smalls, organizer of the upcoming Winter Brawl in suburban Philadelphia, quickly followed suit:
What’s good everyone,
— Big E Gaming (@BigEgaming) February 1, 2018
Andre will no longer be attending any more Big E Gaming events.
Outta respect for all in attendance.
I spoke to André the last 2 days and he agrees with me that he needs to focus on his problems and not the fgc.
Thanks for for everyone’s time.
The majority of the reactions has been positive, but there’s still plenty of folks out there in the social media universe that leave the community shaking their collective heads. After a cursory look, it's easy to find gems like “these are just accusations, where’s the proof?” and “burden of proof should be on the accuser” and others that we have unfortunately come to expect from the bottomless pit of hot takes and quick reactions.
In the back of our minds, we all understand the desire for due process. A person who is merely accused of an act, no matter how dastardly, should have his or her day in court. However, there’s a component to this argument that people who are quick to come to his defense are forgetting about, something that Big E brings up in that tweet above.
“Andre will no longer be attending any more Big E Gaming events.
Outta respect for all in attendance.”
That second part is the key. Yes, he may be accused of something that he will eventually be exonerated for, but what about the people he’s going to interact with in the meantime? If another young woman wants to compete in a tournament, OMGItzAndre’s mere presence or the possibility of it might give her pause. Maybe friends of the accuser of even the accuser herself want to attend Winter Brawl, should they have to be on edge the entire time just to save the feelings of one guy who may or may not have done something heinous?
Things like this need to be dealt with swiftly and soundly, and in this case both Ian Davis and Big E are handling this the way it ought to be handled: with zero tolerance for any allegations of this nature. While these punishments may seem harsh without a definitive admission of guilt, just the idea of this man forcing himself onto another person should be all that needs to be heard.
There is a silver lining in all of this, as I have a feeling the accused might be in agreement with it. Again I go back to Big E’s tweet, as he followed the previous quote with the following:
“I spoke to André the last 2 days and he agrees with me that he needs to focus on his problems and not the fgc.”
This is promising on the surface, a seemingly troubled soul figuring out what’s eating away at him and potentially righting the ship, but there needs to be some evidence of follow-through as well. If he can prove that he’s improving himself, show some true contrition to his accuser, and take some time to truly reflect, then perhaps he can begin to travel the long road to redemption. I am of the belief that anyone can change themselves for the better with treatment and a support system, and hopefully this man can deal with whatever is fueling his alleged heinous behavior. Until then, however, it seems OMGItzAndre will not be appearing at any FGC tournaments and may never do so again.
The world is wisening up to sexual misconduct, an act that is long overdue if you ask me, and this OMGItzAndre situation shows that no pocket of pop culture is immune no matter how small it is. While this situation is still in the allegation stages and it may never progress from there, keeping the accused away from the fighting game scene is truly the best case scenario for everyone.
Competitive gamers are in the spotlight more and more lately and the controversy keeps building up. Check out our piece on xQc and his constant behavior!
