Bjergsen Says He Could Have Handled His Retirement Differently, Apologizes to Nadeshot

One of League of Legends Esports’ most prominent stars, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg, announced his retirement from professional League of Legends on 7th April, marking the end of his 11-year career in the scene. He said his decision had nothing to do with 100 Thieves and its results in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2023 Spring Split. Following this, in a recent episode of the 100 Thieves Podcast, founder and CEO Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, talked about how Bjergsen’s sudden retirement impacted the team. Nadeshot also revealed that the team was only informed “an hour” prior to the airing of his announcement video.

Nadeshot reflects on Bjergsen’s retirement

In the latest episode of Nadeshot Knows titled ‘Nadeshot Sounds Off on Bjergsen Retirement’, the 100 Thieves CEO talked about how they learned of Bjergsen’s retirement. He said, “The Bjergsen situation was pretty tough. We were at the golf course when I got the text. It was basically Jacob, our head of esports, saying ‘Bjergsen just informed us that he’s retiring and he’s going to release a statement within the next hour’”

While Nadeshot empathized with Bjergsen, he stated that he wished the mid-laner had handled his retirement better and how it affects the organization and the executives. He added, “When I watched the video I think that’s when I got a little bit more upset. Just because he had a DSLR, mic’d up, production quality through the roof. He knew what he was doing. I totally get it.” However, Nadeshot also stated that he understands why Bjergsen gave the organization only an hour’s time before the announcement, fearing leaks.

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Following this podcast episode, Nadeshot took to Twitter to explain his statement further since he felt people were taking his words out of context. In his tweet, he said he does not hold any resentment or ill will towards Bjergsen and that he completely understands him. He said Bjergsen deserved to deliver his goodbye in the way that he felt was best. 

However, he pointed out that it does not change the fact that 100 Thieves and himself were personally affected by the decision. “Nobody is hurt, we’ll be fine. Bjergsen is the GOAT and it was a pleasure and an honor to have him wear our jersey and play underneath our banner even if it was only for a split. Forever grateful,” he stated.

Bjergsen reaches out to Nadeshot and apologizes

Replying to Nadeshot’s tweet, Bjergsen said he “totally gets it.” The former mid-laner agreed that he could have handled his retirement differently. Bjergsen wrote, “I totally get it and agree I could have handled it differently while still likely not having it leak. I'm sorry about that. Still happy and proud to have ended my playing career with you guys.”