On March 9, former professional Overwatch player Jay "Sinatraa" Won was accused of sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend. After an outcry from the community, Overwatch will now be offering refunds to any players who purchased the Alien Zarya skin designed by Won.
Two days ago, Won's former girlfriend Cleo "cle0h" Hernandez published a nine-page Google Doc outlining her nine-month relationship with the then-Overwatch MVP. In the document, Hernandez alleges that Won sexually assaulted her on many occasions after she refused his advances. Hernandez also includes an audio clip of one instance where she can be heard saying "no" multiple times, and she claims to have video evidence for this and many other instances.
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However, despite the fact that Won is no longer associated with the Overwatch League, it looks like that organization is moving to sever ties with him completely following the sexual assault allegations. After being awarded the title of MVP in the 2019 Overwatch League season, the League celebrated with a commemorative skin for Zarya known as the Alien Zarya skin. Players need league tokens to purchase the skin, but Overwatch is now offering refunds to anyone who had done so. The Alien Zarya skin will also be removed from Overwatch in future patches, the statement says.
Following the accusations, Valorant and Riot Games announced that the organization is promptly launching an investigation, during which Jay Won has been suspended from playing Valorant competitively, meaning he will be barred from playing this weekend. Sentinels, the Valorant team based in Los Angeles, California Won plays for, also announced it would be launching its own internal investigation on the accusations. Won no longer plays Overwatch due to a "lost passion for the game," and solely plays Valorant professionally.
Sinatraa responded to the assault allegations in a short TwitLonger posted to Twitter, in which he briefly apologizes to Hernandez while also vaguely denying any allegations against him, saying "she recalls our relationship differently than I do." He also states that he is fully cooperating with any ongoing investigations.
While many are commending Overwatch and Valorant for their actions in response to the matter, and supporting Hernandez for her powerful statement, others are rallying behind the "innocent until proven guilty" mantra and choosing to support Sinatraa during this time.
In a statement to Polygon, Hernandez explains that she still deals with the trauma every day, has called sexual assault survivor hotlines numerous times and has spent "over a year of my life in therapy" to remedy the alleged damage from her relationship with Won.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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Source: Polygon