Smash Melee pro Leffen drops out of TBH due to death threat claims

Super Smash Bros Melee legend Leffen has announced that he’s dropped out of TBH 11 after claiming he’s received death threats. He’s chosen to bow out of the tournament due to “not feeling comfortable with entering anymore.”

William ‘Leffen’ Hjeltehas been a fairly controversial figure in the Super Smash Bros. community due to past conduct, the likes of which got him banned from Smash events early in his career.

However, he’s since had a comeback and while he still has his detractors, he’s proven himself as one of the best Melee players and even took home a decisive EVO 2023 win in Guilty Gear: Strive.

The Smash icon was looking to compete in The Big House 11 and get back into competing in Melee, but he’s chosen to back out of the tournament ahead of time after claiming he’s receiving death threats.

Leffen drops out of TBH 11 amid claims he’s getting death threats

Leffen’s been one of the best Super Smash Bros. Melee players for around a decade. He’s built up a rivalry with other mainstay players in the scene like Joseph ‘Mang0’ Marquez and has stayed relevant despite Melee’s status as an aging game.

What’s more, he’s buried the hatchet with a lot of those he had beef with in the past. Leffen has moved on from a lot of the controversy that surrounded him in the past.

His reformation is an inside joke of sorts in the community, and actual beef has turned into friendly rivalries in many ways. However, not everyone has put the past behind them.

According to Leffen, he’s received death threats ahead of entering The Big House 11 and has opted to drop out of the tournament.

“Due to receiving death threats since yesterday I do not feel comfortable entering anymore, for my sake and others,” said Leffen in a social media post.

However, these aren’t the only posts that he made surrounding the situation.

Other social media posts from Leffen that have since been deleted show his frustration with the situation and shed some light on his decision. One of his deleted posts referenced Aziz ‘Hax$’ Al-Yami who put out a series of videos that took aim at Leffen in a negative light over two years ago.

Leffen’s post was in direct response to a lengthy statement from Hax$ released on October 20. The former competitor was trying to say that, while his actions were out of line, he feels he should be unbanned.

“I mainly want to shift the understanding away from me having acted with malice or anything like that. There are certain sentences in my ban statement (e.g. ‘Hax’s actions were intentional’) which imply that that’s what I did. I would never do something like that. It was more so a highly irresponsible outburst.” Hax$ explained.

This is one of the main parts Leffen took issue with and directly addressed in his deleted tweet.

Some have gone as far as accusing Leffen of lying about these death threats and claiming he’s dropping out in relation to Hax$’s statement, leaving the community divided with the feud between these two ongoing.