A top 24 VCT Game Changers team has accused their former organization of poor management and sexual harassment.
The team, who now compete under the name karmaVALORANT, previously represented UK organization Motif Esports in the February 2022 Valorant Game Changers EMEA open qualifier, finishing 24th out of 80.
Shortly after the end of their VGC run, allegations surfaced on February 8 from members of the team of sexual harassment and misconduct by the organization’s owner Jaws, real name Jack. Joanne, one of the players, told Dexerto that Jaws offered to send her explicit photos of himself in return for her performing well in a Valorant game.
She claimed that he told her he would “turn her” straight if she were to spend a night with him, and that he repeatedly made unwarranted and unsolicited comments about the physical appearance of players on the team.
She also alleges that while in a Discord call, he screen-shared explicit content from a Discord server and made her watch it with him.
The allegations also include general poor conduct by the org’s management, including messaging players during official VGC matches to join them for ranked games.
In a Twitlonger, another player, RattieRebecca, alleged that another member of the team was subjected to racist abuse in Twitch chat by another member of the organization, and that management did nothing to prevent or stop it.
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VIOLET leaving @MotifEsports due to harassment, lack of human decency, racism.
Read: https://t.co/gaPSFRgbFl
— RattieRebecca (@RattieRebecca) February 8, 2022
The players have received support from the community following these allegations, and are currently not signed to an organization.
Reading everything that the ex Motif Esports girls have gone through makes me so angry.
I can't believe I have to say this but don't pick up a team (male or female) and harass/abuse/take advantage of them. These girls are hard-working competitors, treat them with respect!
— Yinsu (@YinsuCollins) February 8, 2022
Dexerto reached out to the organization’s founder for comment, but he responded that he “could not say much at this moment due to a lack of evidence on both sides” and refrained from further comment.
The organization’s Twitter account has also been deactivated following the allegations, and in an official statement to Dexerto they confirmed that “Motif Esports has taken the decision to disband as an organization and remove its presence from the internet.”
They also stated that they had “no further comment on the situations at hand.”