Noah “Cowboy” Cmiel is at the center of a serious controversy.
The pro Fortnite player has been officially released from Team SoloMid. The move was announced by TSM on Twitter with no explanation, but it comes after allegations of the player sending inappropriate messages to an underaged streamer. Cowboy is 27 years old.
A Twitch streamer using the handle “Faith” claimed that Cowboy had sent messages to a 16-year-old saying “imagine messaging a 16-year-old girl when you’re married,” before holding up a phone containing a message that said “lookin good ;)” to the camera. She then followed that with a second message that included Cowboy’s Discord tag.
The messages were not sent to Faith and it is not known how she obtained them. The identity of the 16-year-old streamer is not currently known.
Cowboy has since shut down both his Discord and Twitter accounts, but he released a message on his Twitch channel denying the allegations. “Please don’t believe everything you read on the internet. I am not married and I have hired a lawyer to clear my name. I am not allowed to talk about anything but I am not a pedofile (sic).”
Despite the denials, TSM released a terse statement on Twitter announcing his release.
“Yesterday Cowboy was officially released and is no longer affiliated with us,” TSM said in a statement.
Even without Cowboy, TSM still maintains a sizable stable of competitive Fortnite players. The roster includes Ali “Myth” Kabbani, Daequan “Daequan” Loco, and Vinny “Vinny1x” Gilgan.
With Cowboy retreating from social media, it is unclear what the future holds for him competitively or professionally.
