A controversial rant has prompted the Florida Mayhem to drop Overwatch streamer Sam “Samito” Dawahare.
Samito is no longer affiliated with the Overwatch League team after raging during a May 26 stream. During the explicit rant, Samito told one viewer to “go be braindead somewhere else,” repeated that the viewer didn’t matter, and even telling them that nobody loved them and to “go kill yourself.”
Samito apologized to the viewer after the anger-induced rant but Florida Mayhem found the interaction unprofessional and concerning. The organization immediately dropped Samito after calling his stream “unacceptable.” In an official statement on Twitter, the Florida Mayhem also added that they would be making donations to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Effective immediately, @SamitoFPS is no longer affiliated with the Florida Mayhem.
Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/hjAwOMHSeS
— Florida Mayhem (@FLMayhem) May 28, 2021
The Overwatch community appeared to mostly support Samito in the comments, saying that being removed from the team was excessive. It was a possible “teaching opportunity” that Samito could have grown from with the Mayhem’s support. Others ranted that nobody is allowed to make a mistake anymore.
But Samito noted “I’m a work in progress but I’ll get there. Can’t blame them. It’s all g… Though I do wish the statement wasn’t as ‘screw you’ as it came out to be that was not the impression I was under.”
Samito responds to leaving Florida Mayhem
After the Florida Mayhem offered their statement, Samito posted a YouTube video of his own that further discussed and acknowledged his mistake.
“I’m 100 percent accountable for my actions,” Samito started. “I go full auto-pilot when I’m talking shit. I have the ‘angry toxic gamer’ persona. My brain doesn’t compute my shit talk all the way. It’s skim reading my thoughts. But I said it. I’m accountable. Right after that, I said I was sorry and that I didn’t mean it.”
Samito then showed the full clip, since the one on Reddit only showed his harmful rant. In the full clip, Samito immediately apologizes for saying toxic things and says it’s “not okay.” He also admits that he just spewed out random insults he heard on Call of Duty the night before.
“I’ve been down the depths before, questioning everything in your life. I’ve even talked other people out…I was a part of other people not killing themselves several times. I don’t want anyone to kill themselves, despite what Reddit might say,” Samito explained.
Samito also noted in the video that he would be suing the troll that uploaded the “out of context” clip that didn’t include the apology. He said that he would “see him in court,” noting that it wasn’t the first time the known troll had been toxic in the Overwatch Reddit community. Samito stated that cropping the clip without the apology is what led him to get fired from Florida Mayhem.
Most of the comments were in support of Samito and applauded his swift apology during the stream itself and in the video after being dropped from the team. A lot of fans said they would continue to support Samito.
“I love Florida Mayhem to death,” Samito said. “I don’t hold any malice towards them. The Mayhem community is so sweet as well. Nothing but love and respect. You guys rock.”
Who is Samito in Overwatch?
Samito was a partnered content creator with the Florida Mayhem for over a year. He produced videos with the pro team and created Overwatch content on Twitch and YouTube. Before joining Mayhem, Samito played in the Overwatch Contenders, including his time as a flex DPS for Triumph and Phase 2.
