smooya apologizes on Twitter for his past toxic behavior

Olivia Richman Published 12/11/2020

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro Owen “smooya” Butterfield took to Twitter to apologize for his past behavior.

“Made too many mistakes in my career outside of the game which has heavily messed with my career in the game,” smooya tweeted.

He then apologized to those who “wanted the best” for him.

smooya is currently unsigned after having previously joined c0ntact Gaming on a trial basis. He’s been playing CSGO professionally since 2016, including a stint with Chaos Esports Club. His goal is to become a main AWPer for a top professional team, but smooya hasn’t been playing for a team since mid-October.

He may be starting to feel the effects of his poor behavior.

CSGO fans aren’t too convinced that smooya’s apology is genuine, noting that he’s sent out similar tweets in the past. smooya has been banned on Twitch for using offensive homophobic, racist, and sexist language.

The FACEIT Pro League also banned smooya in February of 2019 for toxic behavior towards another player, Ismail “refrezh” Ali. smooya had called refrezh a “fucking bitch” and even told him to “kill himself” for allegedly not trying hard enough in a match that led to overtime.

smooya tweeted that he “didn’t agree” with what he had said about refrezh and was taking a week to relax.

“I don’t think it’s right in any way. This isn’t a reflection on my team. It’s on me,” smooya said.

But his apology’s authenticity was already being questioned last year. Before that incident, smooya was called “disrespectful” by former mousesports captain Chris “chrisJ” de Jong for his toxic in-game antics while he was a part of the team.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile

Read Also

Counter-Strike

IEM Cologne Major 2026 CS2 Stage 3 Pick’Em Predictions Owen Harsono It’s that time of the year again, as the next Counter-Strike 2 Major is right around the corner. The IEM Cologne 2026 Major is set to start on June 2, meaning you still have some time to lock in your Pick’Em predictions. The Pick’Em Challenge is one of the most exciting parts of the CS2 Majors, as it allows you to test your knowledge and predict which teams make it ...

Counter-Strike

Team Spirit concede just 10 rounds in Stage 2 of the IEM Cologne Major Owen Harsono It was pretty weird seeing Team Spirit having to start the IEM Cologne Major from Stage 2, but they quickly proved why that was a mistake. With donk shooting on all fronts, the Eastern Europeans speed ran the competition to book their spot in Stage 3. With how they’ve been playing, it’s hard not to wonder whether they can actually win the entire thing. These boys can sometimes be known ...

Counter-Strike

BIG pull off 0-12 comeback to stay alive – IEM Cologne Major Stage 1 recap Owen Harsono We’ve just witnessed arguably the worst choke in Counter-Strike Major history, and we’re only on the first stage of the IEM Cologne Major. If you didn’t tune into the Stage 1 matches, here’s what you need to know heading into Stage 2. Many fans tend to underestimate Stage 1 teams for fair reasons, but some survivors in this tournament look extremely promising. Two Eastern European teams, BetBoom Team and B8, ...

Counter-Strike

Who will win the IEM Cologne Major 2026? Owen Harsono If you’re looking to play it safe and back one team at the Counter-Strike 2 IEM Cologne 2026 Major, traders prediction markets platforms have a clear frontrunner – it’s Team Vitality. But if it’s not meant to be, there are a few other candidates that could lift the trophy. Here’s what traders on Polymarket and Kalshi think. If you haven’t been watching CS2 this year and are only jumping on ...

Counter-Strike

The 10 best CS2 players who have never won a Major Owen Harsono In Counter-Strike, winning a Major immediately puts you into legend status. It’s an achievement that proves you won the game’s biggest trophy. However, there have been some really good players that could never get their hands on the biggest trophy that Counter-Strike esports has to offer. Here is WIN.gg's list of best CS2 players who have never won a Major. ScreaM is one of Counter-Strike's most famous players for one ...

Counter-Strike

IEM Cologne Major 2026: All the teams, favorites, and outright betting odds Owen Harsono Mark your calendars, as the IEM Cologne Major kicks off on June 2, 2026. We’re going to see the best teams in the world compete, but which ones are actually favored to take the title? This will be the first time in 10 years that IEM Cologne will return as a Counter-Strike Major, so the stakes this year are much higher than they’ve been in a decade. In this guide, ...

Esports Betting

All IEM Cologne winners and rosters in Counter-Strike history Owen Harsono IEM Cologne is one of Counter-Strike’s biggest events, happening every single year. Some seasons, the event is labeled as one of Valve’s two Counter-Strike Majors of the year, but if not, still stands as one of the big events every player chases to win. With the IEM Cologne 2026 Major right around the corner, let’s take a trip down memory lane and check out every single winner of the tournament, ...