Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has banned 19-year-old Anthony ‘ZexRow’ Colandro from future Ninja Battle events after a controversial and curse-filled interview in the very first broadcast.
‘Ninja Battles featuring Fortnite’ was announced on May 28. The brand new event spans six weeks with $80,000 up for grabs each time around. While some of the biggest names in the scene are ready to get involved, one pro player has already found themselves barred from the competition.
Team SoloMid’s ZexRow took home the first-week win with 59 points, but his post-game interview immediately landed him in hot water. Shortly after a controversial response, the pro has been barred from all future Ninja Battles.
Following his team’s victory in the first week of the event, ZexRow was interviewed in front of nearly 15,000 live viewers on Ninja’s Mixer stream. He was also broadcasting his perspective on his own Twitch channel at the time.
When asked for final comments he unloaded a curse-ridden barrage of insults to all others in the competition. “Everyone that didn’t place in top 10 can suck my d***. They’re f***ing s****ers. I don’t know why they talk s***, they’re actually also dogs*** and braindead.”
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Immediately regretting his outburst, ZexRow took to Twitter and issued an apology. “Forgot parents watch, I’m sorry,” he said. “Congrats on your first and last Ninja Battles placement,” Ninja quickly responded. Seemingly blocking the pro from any future weeks of competition.
The Mixer streamer didn’t take kindly to the insults hurled at fellow pros and content creators involved in the tournament. As a result, it’s clear that ZexRow will not be invited back for the remaining five weeks of Ninja Battles.
Congrats on your first and last Ninja battles placement!
— Ninja (@Ninja) May 28, 2020
“I am actually really sorry about that,” he later expanded. “It was a really bad lapse in judgement and I didn’t think in the moment and forgot that there [were] kids watching, and even so it was too far.” He went on to post a Twitlonger apologizing again to Ninja, the tournament organizers and the fans watching.
Many in the community flamed ZexRow for his statements, some even pushing for the pro to be dropped from his organization Team SoloMid. “It was a big mistake but I’ve made a lot of those,” he said. “I’ll ask them if I can leave.” Only time will tell, however, if today’s actions will indeed leave the Fortnite pro orgless.
Week 2 of the Ninja Battles event will be back on June 4 at 12 PM PST.