Former G2 CEO Ocelote doubles down on support for Tate, unlikely to return to esports

G2 Esports founder and former CEO Carlos "Ocelote" Rodrguez made waves on social media once again after he doubled down on his support for controversial British-American influencer Andrew Tate.

Ocelote built a Discord channel after leaving G2 earlier this year and screenshots from that server were made public on Thursday (22 December), showing G2's former CEO lavishing admiration on the well-known sexist influencer and the views Tate holds dear.

In the screen grab, he said, “I heavily support Andrew Tate and many of his beliefs”, and described the said influencer as a “good man" and "one of the best men [he] has dealt with in 32 years".

The screenshots were posted by League of Legends (LoL) analyst for Gen.G @AlexzGenG, encouraging folks on Twitter to 'cancel' Ocelote. The former G2 CEO retweeted this post and said, "You can’t cancel me twice b*****."

Andrew Tate, who calls himself a "self-help guru for aspiring alpha males," has been banned from multiple social media platforms in the past due to his misogynistic posts and videos in which he asserts, among other things, that women are property and rape victims are partially to blame for their own experience.

It has also been reported that Tate engages in sex trafficking and domestic violence, both of which are now being investigated.

Early this year, recordings surfaced showing Tate physically abusing women in 2016. And in April of last year, Romanian police searched his residence during a probe into human trafficking.

Carlos' association with Tate first came to public attention in September when the former G2 CEO tweeted a video of himself enjoying a G2 victory with Tate and others. The tweet drew swift criticism on Twitter from both supporters of the organization and outside onlookers.

He later defended his actions, saying that “nobody will ever be able to police my friendships” in a follow-up tweet and that he parties with whoever he wants.

Then, on 18 September, G2 Esports said that Ocelote had been given an eight-week suspension without pay for his actions. They also said that "the actions of our CEO spoke a language that was very different from the values and culture that G2 lives by and strives for."

This was followed by an apology from Ocelote on Twitter, saying that he “failed to read this room right” and that he will “accept the consequences in full.”

The former G2 CEO eventually announced his resignation from the organisation a few days later.

Riot also suspended Ocelote from 12 October because he “engaged in activity detrimental to the best interest of the League and Riot Games.”

Ocelote has been suspended for eight weeks, retroactive to September 18, 2022, and must complete sensitivity training and executive training, with proof of completion submitted to Riot within 120 days (roughly by 11 February 2023).

Neither G2 nor Riot nor Ocelote themselves can offer this training, so it must come from an independent outside source.

Ocelote unlikely to return to G2 and the Riot Esports scene

Ocelote said in a separate tweet that he doesn’t see himself returning to G2, saying "G2 is going to succeed without me at the helm”.

“There are very capable and inspirational people there. Don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened,” he added.

It’s also unlikely that he would return to any esports organisation in an executive capacity, especially if the organisation has LoL or VALORANT teams, as Ocelote's controversial tweets reportedly killed G2's chances of getting VALORANT partnership spots.

Because of Ocelote's actions, the organisation he helped found will not be able to participate in the VALORANT Americas League, where partners are guaranteed annual payouts of US$600,000.

Instead, G2 announced earlier this month that they will be competing in the VCT 2023 Ascension Tournament, where teams who were unable to secure a partnership slot with Riot Games will compete for a spot in the VALORANT esports franchise.

Given Ocelote’s recent tweets and actions, it looks like he’s now closing the door to returning to the esports scene for now.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.