Chief Executive Officer at G2 Esports Carlos Rodriguez created no small amount of controversy earlier this week for partying with internet personality and infamous misogynist Andrew Tate. The executive recently posted a video of the festivities on Twitter, bringing on a backlash from a large group of his followers. This of course prompted supporters to strike back, turning the entire affair into what some commentators have described as a “shitstorm.”“Nobody will ever be able to police my friendships,” Rodriguez later said on Twitter. “I party with whoever the fuck I want.” G2 Esports announced the establishment of an all-women League of Legends team back in August, heralding a far more inclusive future for esports.Rodriguez founded G2 Esports back in 2015. “The club was co-founded by legendary League of Legends player turned team owner Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriguez and veteran esports entrepreneur and investor Jens Hilgers,” the official website states. “With decades of experience, G2’s multinational staff elevates the company to the highest levels of performance in every aspect of business in the esports industry.” The organization is described as “one of the leading entertainment assets in esports, bringing together some of the best competitive players in the world and biggest personalities in gaming.” This apparently includes Tate.Tate has been a controversial figure for years. The former kickboxer has attracted a substantial amount of attention for making misogynistic comments on a variety of different social media platforms in addition to promoting far right ideology and spreading misinformation about vaccines. Tate was banned from Twitter for saying that victims of sexual assault share a part of responsibility for their own attacks among numerous other statements. Tate has described himself as "absolutely a sexist" and "absolutely a misogynist,” claiming that women "belong to the man.”The internet personality was permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram last month, losing his 4.7 million followers in the process. According to parent company Meta, Tate violated the relevant policy on hate speech. TikTok followed suit shortly afterwards, claiming that he created "content that attacks, threatens, incites violence against, or otherwise dehumanizes an individual or a group.” YouTube has now suspended his channel as well.
The movement of “men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships, and a new vision of masculinity” known as the White Ribbon Campaign has previously described Tate as "extremely misogynistic.” The group against racism and fascism called Hope not Hate has in much the same way referred to his presence on social media as a "dangerous slip road into the far right.”