Dreamhack will no longer "hire or work with" journalist who fought Dota 2 pro backstage at recent tournament
PCGamesN
Update 1st Dec: PC Gamer have posted statements from Dreamhack staffers as to Richard Lewis' future with the company and details on the incident itself.
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Mike Van Driel, a Dreamhack project manager, gave this official statement to PCG:
"Moving forward DreamHack's very quickly reached the conclusion that we will no longer be hiring or working with Richard Lewis indefinitely. We cannot condone violent behaviour at our events. Jonathan will be welcome at all events in the future, however we would like to reiterate that aggressive behaviour is not acceptable."
He also gave a full account of the altercation itself, placing the blame for both physical contact and initiation of the argument squarely on Lewis and his actions at the time and throughout the day. This was corroborated by a second Dreamhack official, Christian "Hellspawn" Lord, who posted this tweet:
I was advised to be silent but I can't stand it anymore. @RLewisReports strangled @LodaBerg and I was the (cont) https://t.co/M6e5dN9uFH
— Hellspawn (@Hellspawnlord) December 1, 2015Original Story, 30th Nov 2015: A Dota 2 pro and an e-sports journalist came to blows at DreamHack Winter this weekend after a verbal dispute “escalated”. Alliance player Jonathan ‘Loda’ Berg confronted Breitbart writer Richard Lewis backstage over a tweet Lewis had written.
DreamHack staff pulled the two apart after things got physical, and called security. The organisers then notified police, who arrived at DreamHack Winter - the mass LAN party and venue for various major e-sports tournaments - to take statements from both parties and witnesses.
The tweet in question concerned a sign which apparently belonged to Berg’s girlfriend, Alliance player manager Kelly ‘kellymilkies’ Ong Xiao Wei.
@RLewisReports Ya Lets meet up and talk about it. Im at dh.
— Jonathan Berg (@LodaBerg) November 28, 2015
And once the incident was over, the conflict returned to Twitter:
So I go and talk to @RLewisReports and he physically assaults me... He strangles me until admins pulled him away. Police inc!
— Jonathan Berg (@LodaBerg) November 28, 2015
Big take home point for me is that a player, who aggressed onto me in a fit of white-knighthood, was pandered to after I defended myself.
— Richard Lewis (@RLewisReports) November 29, 2015
DreamHack have since issued a statement about the “physical confrontation”, co-signed by the pair.
“It is of the utmost importance for DreamHack to operate an event in which all visitors, staff, exhibitors, and competitors can feel safe,” wrote the organisers.
“All parties, DreamHack, Richard Lewis and Loda deeply regret that an environment existed in which this situation occurred, and that the confrontation escalated as it did. All parties have jointly talked with DreamHack Security Crew, as well as police and believe the best actions are to put aside our differences and come together to move forward with the conclusion of DreamHack Winter 2015.”
Berg and Lewis shook hands before the end of the show, though the latter was sufficiently unimpressed by DreamHack’s handling of the event as to suggest he might never work with them again.
Lewis sounds like a nasty piece of work. Baits and winds people up and then assaults them when he achieves his desired effect. What a fucking tool.
Not sure why people are slamming this so bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, all of it was stupid. But... This sort of thing happens all the time in so-called 'real sports' with their 'professionals.' I'm also still confused as to how card games are considered more of a professional sport than video games... Which even INCLUDE card games?
Chess is considered sport. Poker is a sport. Why shouldn't other 'card games'?
Sounds to me like Berg went a little overboard over a joke.
Can these people be called "pros" when it's clear they are actually insecure, hurt children? I mean, actual pro athletes sometimes act this way too, and it's no less embarrassing when they do. Someone playing video games is definitely not in that league, regardless of them slapping the word "pro" next to their name, or getting thousands of dollars for playing games and justifying diva behavior, in their own heads anyway. It's pathetic.
It's bad enough when people with the mental age of children spend too much time playing computer games. But when some svengali-like exploiter starts telling them that they are a "pro", and should get paid stupid amounts of money because it's a "professional sport", it's bound to lead to a mental disconnection from reality, and egos getting inflated beyond sane limits. It's also not surprising that the people involved in this industry which exploits players for massive profit, aren't mature enough to organise things so that people behave themselves properly. We've had scandals to due children using recreational drugs, also youngsters doping to increase playing performance, now we have fights breaking out at events! When is somebody going to clamp down on this madness, get everybody to behave like adults, stop the exploitation, and clean up the image of e-games? (And it's not "e-sports", there's no sport involved.)
I agree with you on some points but really projecting there buddy. If this was Football, I think you'd be right, but these guys aren't making hundreds of millions a year on contract. Will definitely agree these people are immature as all get out. but I want to point out one of the people involved was A REPORTER, not a competitor. An individual who was, one would assume, a grown man who went to college and everything. The real issue is people behaving like fools on the internet and then dragging it into real life.
Also, not a sport? That's like. your opinion, man.
Well said.