Grant “GranDGranT” Harris has been at the center of one of Dota 2’s biggest scandals to date.
The caster and content creator is no longer working with Evil Geniuses following a weekend of news during which he was accused of harassing a woman at an event. The organization announced the news on Twitter:
Effective immediately, Grant “GranDgranT” Harris has been released and is no longer a member of Evil Geniuses.
We have a zero-tolerance workplace policy, and take any accusation of harassment, or a violation of our policies handbook, seriously.
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) June 22, 2020
The decision by Evil Geniuses follows allegations of sexual harassment from a Twitter user using the handle @cofactorstrudel. On June 21, the woman stated an unnamed caster grabbing her by the wrist at the afterparty for The International 2017 while flirting with her and refused to let go. They later specifically named GranDGranT as the individual.
This led to a larger conversation of both the difficulties facing women in the scene, as well as GranDGranT’s history of inappropriate behavior.
We telling esports sexual harassment stories?
TI7 afterparty. One drunk caster slurring at me and literally wouldn’t let go of my hand, I had to wrench it off him with all my strength.
Another person aggressively propositioned me for sex, even started undressing.— 707 in a sun dress hacking police radios coz BLM (@cofactorstrudel) June 21, 2020
Before becoming a prominent caster, GranDGranT made racist posts on Dota 2 forums. He has also attacked women within esports on numerous occasions, previously being banned from Twitch for harassing a Dota 2 streamer known as TheFluffiestBunny.
Dota 2 content creator and former coach Anthony “scantzor” Hodgson also discussed GranDGranT’s treatment of former Dota 2 caster LlamaDownUnder, who scantzor suggested was harassed to the point that she left the Dota 2 scene entirely and sought legal remedy against GranDGranT.
GranDGranT himself acknowledged and apologized for the allegations leveled by @cofactorstrudel. He has since stated that he will be stepping away from Dota 2 for the foreseeable future, and possibly forever.
ill be Leaving Dota and the Esports Scene For A long time if not permanent. I dont want to make this about me though, I want to Say, I hope the people who dont feel safe do feel safer, and I hope Dota becomes an overall better esport over the upcoming years.
— Grant Harris (@GranDGranT) June 22, 2020
The initial tweet suggesting harassment by GranDGranT followed a slew of similar stories about various individuals.
Over the weekend, allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled across the entire video game industry ranging from developers to high-profile streamers. Esports wasn’t exempt from this either, with prominent women in the Dota 2 space discussing their own histories with sexual harassment in both social and professional settings.
Alongside GranDGranT, MoonDuck director and Dota 2 caster Andrew “Zyori” Campbell was accused of attempting to pressure cosplayer Ashnichrist into having sex after meeting at Dota Summit 2.
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