LCS segment on TSM drama results in backlash

The North American professional League of Legends broadcast hosted a segment about Peng “Doublelift” Yilang and TSM’s history that resulted in fan backlash and an apology from the LCS commissioner.

The LCS hosted a segment on Doublelift’s history and past drama with the TSM organization, hosted by Gabriella “LeTigress” Devia-Allen. The segment took fans on a brief recap of Doublelift’s many championships with the team, his departure for Team Liquid, and eventual return. It also covered some of the controversies between Doublelift and TSM founder Andy “Reginald” Dinh. The segment was meant to hype up the top-tier match between Doublelift’s new home 100 Thieves and TSM. However, the community took the segment as a step too far, bordering on unprofessional. By the end of the week of play, LCS Commissioner Jackie Felling had already become involved with an official statement.

LCS TSM drama segment angers fans

During the second week of play, the LCS broadcast hosted a recap segment ahead of 100 Thieves’ match against TSM. The focus of this segment was to highlight North American superstar Doubelift’s mixed past with the organization. The intent was clearly to hype up the past between the player and the organization, however, many fans felt that the official broadcast delving into the details of interpersonal drama was a step too far for an official Riot Games broadcast speaking about franchised league partners. A highly-upvoted Reddit post hit the League of Legends subreddit’s front page shortly after, voicing fans’ concerns.

Riot Games AIRED my TSM LAWSUIT(and my thoughts)

The segment detailed Doublelift’s previous interactions with Reginald, including the player’s accusations of verbal abuse and bullying against the TSM CEO. In the segment, LeTigress spoke about how “Doublelift accused TSM CEO and founder Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh of bullying and verbally assaulting players to the point of mental breakdowns.” This tone shocked many fans, who were surprised to see an officially-endorsed Riot Games product taking direct aim at a franchised team. A team that Riot is supposed to be business partners with. Retired professional jungler William “Meteos” Hartman and retired AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi were both in disbelief at the segment when co-streaming the LCS live.

Doublelift responds to controversial LCS segment

Doublelift didn’t seem impressed by the segment, saying that the content of the pre-game segment “would be entertaining to somebody who’s, like, seven. But the average LCS fan is probably in their 20s, let’s be honest, maybe even approaching 30 like me.” Doublelift said he didn’t find any personal annoyance about the broadcast possibly making light of accusations of abuse. However, he said the problems at TSM weren’t his story alone to tell.

LCS Commissioner Jackie Felling took to Reddit to give a statement.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for posting your feedback in this thread. We have been talking to TSM and our internal production team. While this was not intended to be disparaging to TSM and we tried to showcase the new faces on the team and storylines, after reviewing further we do feel like this was a miss and not in the direction we have been wanting to take LCS in terms of lifting up our teams and our new fun/entertaining approach. Hearing from you all helps us understand what resonates with our fans and we are discussing internally how to better support our teams and players in these types of segments as we try new things and continually adjust. Thanks for your feedback and we really appreciate it. 

u/JackFelling

Fans seem unconvinced by the commissioner’s statement, saying the damage had already been done. Neither Doublelift nor TSM seems happy with the decisions made, and fans will have to wait until next week to hear another official response.