Dota 2 top caster and commentator, TobiWan, has been bombarded with sexual harassment allegations. Valve responded quickly by replacing his in-game voice lines.
Toby “TobiWan” Dawson is one of the most iconic casters in the DoTA 2 community. He has a lot of voice lines included in-game. This mainly due to his overhyped casting that pumped up the audiences during previous Dota 2 tournaments.
However, Valve is not taking sexual allegations softly. The company decided to remove his voice lines in-game.
Popular Dota 2 insider, Wykrhm Reddy, shed light on what happened on his Facebook post. According to Reddy, the Dota 2 The International 10 Battle Pass will no longer include voice lines from Dawson.
How did this all happen?
The sexual harassment talks in the Dota 2 community started recently. Evil Geniuses removed Grant “GranDGrant” Harris from its roster. This comes after reports of sexual misconduct done by Harris came out.
TobiWan echoed the sentiments of the victims. However, it was not long until his victims speak out about TobiWan’s sexual misconduct.
Popular cosplayer, Meruna, was the first one to come out with her story. According to Meruna, TobiWan does not take no for an answer. Her full tweet discloses the sexual advances that Dawson tried on her.
https://twitter.com/Meruna_/status/1276190773285916673
Moreover, it is also worth noting that Meruna is currently dating Troels “syndereN” Nielsen, a well-known Dota 2 player and commentator.
SyndereN has been working with TobiWan on and off cam since The International 2. However, Meruna and Synderen were not together yet when the ordeal happened.
As of this moment, Synderen has announced that he will no longer be working with Toby.
I will no longer associate myself with Tobi. https://t.co/wXupciEMqx
— Troels Nielsen (@syndereNDota) June 25, 2020
TobiWan sexual allegations discussed in the Dota 2 community
Fellow Dota 2 commentator, Austin “Capitalist” Walsh, expressed his dissent over TobiWan’s action.
It’s clear Toby’s actions are more than being a socially awkward person. That’s what I believed once.
I don’t know who you are
I don’t know what “horrible actions” he’s committed
I don’t know if this will mean anything to youIf you come out publicly, I will support you https://t.co/7cG9U2yyKx
— Cap (@DotACapitalist) June 25, 2020
David “LD” Gorman said on his Twitter that there should be a process before canceling out people.
However, Owen “ODPixel” Davies, quickly countered his statement. Davies mentioned that there is no place for Tobi in the Dota 2 community.
There is so much more beyond the things that are seen publicly. I have been shared the messages in question, and to those who trust my judgement, I can tell you there is absolutely no place for someone like Tobi in our scene, and that those who have also seen them will agree.
— Owen Davies (@ODPixel) June 26, 2020
Davies followed up with another tweet statement in which he said, “We have the right to use our judgment to decide who we do not want to associate with, in order to make the scene as safe, welcoming and inclusive for all.”
“Nobody is being convicted from messages alone and for that to happen OF COURSE it would have to go through a court of law,” Davies added.
Behind the Summit blacklisting Dota 2 personalities
Gorman has announced that TobiWan will not take part in any Behind the Summit events in the future. This statement arrived after Dawson posted a half-baked apology on Twitter.
TobiWan has deleted the tweet since.
Moreover, Beyond the Summit is banning another Dota 2 personality besides TobiWan.
Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho, former pro player and commentator, is also blacklisted on all BTS productions and future events.
Several reports arose that DeMoN has sexually harassed multiple women in different instances.
Ho played for teams like Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, Team Liquid, and TNC.
Eleine Sun, a former Twitch employee, dropped the bomb on DeMoN’s actions via Twitter. BTS producer, Ken Chen, echoed Sun’s statements.
Let’s Talk About DotaDemon
Read: https://t.co/zIp1SqFb6n
— Eleine 🤧 (@Eleine_Sun) June 24, 2020
Nonetheless, Valve has no official remarks yet besides the removal of TobiWan’s voice lines. People are still waiting if Valve will impose sanctions on the involved persons.
Images used Dota 2/Facebook, Dota Archives/Youtube Screenshots