San Francisco Shock player Jay "sinatraa" Won turned 18 and became eligible to compete in official Overwatch League matches on March 19th. Tweeting out a picture of the popular Pepe the Frog meme with a birthday hat on to mark the occasion, sinatraa would go on to delete the tweet explaining that he was required to do so. Looking into the matter, esports insider Rod Breslau tweeted his understanding of why sinatraa was made to delete the tweet containing Pepe the Frog.
From what I understand, Blizzard reached out to SF Shock management to ask that sinatra take down his birthday tweet because it had a pepe in it, which Blizzard is trying to crackdown on in regards to being potentially offensive. https://t.co/euVQW3sbHn
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) March 18, 2018
The potentially offensive manner comes from the use of the particular meme by alt-right and neo-nazi groups. Looking to distance themselves as far as away as possible from anything associated from these groups, Blizzard has taken measures to remove the meme from anything related to the Overwatch League.
I am fully aware of pepe's adoption by alt-right and online nazi groups. Professional players and representatives of OWL and other esports should be aware of this, and its connection to the current American political/cultural climate. That said, this could be handled better.
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) March 18, 2018
However, Breslau explained that he understands the association that these groups have with the meme, and while Overwatch League and fellow esports players and personnel should be aware of this, he believes that Blizzard could have handled the manner better. Breslau would also later state that multiple players were directed by each of their team's managment to remove all references of Pepe the Frog from their social media profiles.
As of this writing, there has been no official announcement from the Overwatch League on if this particular meme is no longer allowed to be used by its members in any capacity. However, from their recent actions it seems that Blizzard is doing everything it can to have the Pepe the Frog meme removed from every part of its infrastructure. With multiple controversies surrounding the league throughout Stage 1 and Stage 2, Blizzard is determined to deter any more of its members from being invloved in anything that could be deemed offensive and or inappropriate by the public eye.
(cover photo courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment)
