Evo Online Has Been Canceled

Amid accusations levied against the CEO.

By Angela Marrujo Fornaca. Posted 07/06/2020 01:15 Comment on this     ShareThis

Evo 2020 was originally set to take place in Las Vegas this year, but after the physical event was canceled due to COVID-19, organizers planned to move it online across multiple weekends in July. Now Evo Online has been canceled as well amid accusations of sexual misconduct that have been levied against the organization’s CEO, Joey Cuellar.

On July 1, FGC Mikey “Crackpr0n” Pham accused Cuellar of repeatedly preying on underage boys in the early 2000s. Pham claimed that in 2001 when he was 17 and Cuellar was 23 or 24, they were at an arcade in Southern California that was popular for fighting game competitions; after a conversation in which the players present were discussing penis sizes, Pham claimed that he was “above average,” Cuellar bet Pham $20 he was not and asked to see Pham’s genitals in person, and the pair went to the arcade’s bathroom, where Pham showed himself to Cuellar and Cuellar paid him the money.

On July 2, Evo announced that they were completely cutting ties with Cuellar and replacing him with co-founder Tony Cannon as acting CEO:

Competitors within the Smash Bros. community have also found themselves accused of sexual misconduct and sexual assault at the same time as Cuellar. On July 1, Troy “Puppeh” Wells alleged that in 2016, when he was 14, he was in a sexual relationship with Cinnamon “Cinpie” Dunson, who was 24. He also claims that she repeatedly gaslit him and forced him to delete messages between them. At this time, she has not yet responded to the allegations.

On July 2, Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth accused Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada of having a sexual relationship with him when he was 15 and Quezada was 20. Quezada apologized to Lauth on Twitter, said that he ” was wrong,” “messed up tremendously,” “failed” his fanbase, and would be taking time off of social media to “get help.” As a result, NRG announced they would be severing ties with Nairo.

Smash Bros. commentator D’Ron “D1” Maingrette has been accused of rape by community member Kaitlyn “KTDominate” Redeker. She claims that, after becoming very drunk at a party at Smash the Record 2016, Maingrette took her to his hotel room, where he assaulted her, and that she did not consent to sleep with him. D1 issued Redeker an apology and claims that he has no recollection of the events, and asked his fans “to please understand, this is not who [he is].”

Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios

Pro Smash player Jason “Anti” Bates has been accused of sexual assault by an anonymous woman, who shared her story via a third-party on Twitter. She claims she came into contact with Bates on Twitter in 2016 and informed him that she was 15, to which she claims he responded by telling her to lie about her age at social gatherings within the competitive Smash scene. She then said she had sexual encounters with him, Maingrette, Ryan “La Luna/The Moon” Coker-Welch, and Richard “Keitaro” King Jr. while underage. Bates has strongly denied the accusations, stating the following:

“All in all, I haven’t been involved with any women from Smash for 3+ years now and I deep down have the notion that this is an organized attack on me since most women in this community have beef with me stemming from years back.

You see it all the time, they talk their shit 24/7 on Twitter and found the perfect opportunity to ruin me, and for now. They succeeded.

The fact that the majority of the community believes these outrageous claims without a SHRED of proof speaks volumes at how everyone just believes any claim that they lay their eyes on and it’s truly fucking sad.”

Bates has indicated he may take legal action against the accuser. Esports organization T1 has dropped Bates from their roster.

Former pro player Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios has apologized for sending sexually suggestive messages to minors, following accusations from multiple women. Jackie “Jisu” Choe, who lived with Barrios from 2014-2015, said that when she was 15, he showed her explicit Craigslist ads of sex workers and hentai. Another anonymous accuser named Katie said that she and Barrios engaged in sexual activities together while she 14. Barrios has apologized and said he will no longer be making gaming content and will be dropping all of his sponsorships.

Sources: NintendoLife, Kotaku UK, ESPN, Dexerto

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