sinatraa suspended by Sentinels after sexual abuse allegations

Fariha Bhatti Published 10/03/2021

Sentinels has responded to sexual abuse allegations made against Jay “Sinatraa” Won by ex-girlfriend Cleo.

The former Overwatch League star won’t be playing in the VALORANT Champions Tour: North America Masters event with his team. Sinatraa was accused of sexual and mental abuse by an ex-girlfriend during a nine-month relationship, and the allegations were described in detail in a post made by the woman. sinatraa has not made any public statement on the matter, but the allegations are serious enough that they called for action from Valorant esports institutions and the organization he represents.

“We are aware of the current situation regarding Jay “sinatraa” Won and have launched an investigation internally. While the investigation is pending, he is suspended from the team,” Sentinels’ said.

Alongside the statement from Sentinels, Riot Games also launched its own investigation and has barred sinatraa from competing in the Valorant Champions Tour, as described in a statement made on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/zXFBC3p76c
— VALORANT Champions Tour NA (@valesports_na) March 10, 2021

The suspension is a hit to Sentinels’ chances in what is the organization’s biggest Valorant tournament to date. VCT Masters has a $150,000 prize pool and will help to decide the competitors in the upcoming VCT Masters world championship event in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sentinels is set to start competing in the event on March 12 against Luminosity Gaming

sinatraa suspended from SENTINELS ahead of VCT Masters

On 10 March, Cleo shared an audio recording and screenshots meant to prove sinatraa’s abuse towards her during their nine-month relationship. Her document quickly gained traction among the Valorant and Overwatch communities. While most people came out in support of Cleo, some popular names in gaming sided with the Valorant pro.

Former Overwatch pro Dafran spoke out in Sinatraa’s favour, asking the community to wait for “other side of the story.”

We have to wait for Sinatraa’s side of the story. E-girls can be fucking scary as a twitch streamer. They will try to jebait or photoshop evidence and then fuck you. Im not saying she is one, but she could be. People have been waiting for something to cancel Sinatraa over https://t.co/golWvkVG1z
— Farmer Dafran (@dafran) March 10, 2021

The response earned Dafran a swift backlash from the community. While some do remain skeptical, most are taking the allegations made very seriously. It remains to be seen how Sentinels deals with the results from its internal investigation. For now, sinatraa’s career in esports is hanging by a thread.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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