G2 Esports CEO Carlos to Go On Unpaid Leave for 8 Weeks

G2 Esports announced that it has suspended CEO Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez's earnings for eight weeks after a clip of him partying with controversial content creator and personality Andrew Tate went viral. The clip was not received well at and the community was angered. Additionally, Carlos Rodriguez will step away from his role as CEO for eight weeks after the organization’s board of supervisors imposed the internal suspension. Initially, after the clip went viral, Carlos stated on Twitter that he would “party with whoever the f** I want.”

G2 Esports releases statement after controversy

On 18th September, G2 Esports released a statement apologizing to the community and its fans for the actions of CEO Carlos. It also thanked the community for holding both Carlos and G2 accountable and noted that the members of the organization have worked hard to build a safe and inclusive environment in esports.

It added, “After internal discussion, Carlos and our Supervisory Board have mutually agreed that he will take eight weeks of leave as CEO and suspend his earnings during that time.” As a result of the mutual agreement, Carlos Rodriguez will take eight weeks of unpaid leave. 

Following this, Carlos wrote on Twitter, “G2 is above Carlos and always has been. I will do anything to protect this company and my colleagues in it as it is my unconditional duty to them.”

CEO Carlos addressed the community

Carlos Rodriguez took to Twitter to apologize to the G2 fans. After acknowledging that many G2 fans were let down this weekend, he said, “It has always been my consistent target to stand for absolute equality of opportunity regardless of who you are or where you come from, which is what gaming is all about.”

He followed this with an apology and added that he would own up to his mistakes. “Make no mistake, my life was full of learnings and I had my fair share of situations I got into in the past. I failed to read this room right, feel terrible about the discussions it created and will stand up and accept the consequences in full,” said Carlos.

The video and the initial comments made by CEO Carlos threw the community into a frenzy and many in the community, both professionals and fans, called him out and condemned him for defending his partying with alleged human trafficker and misogynist Andrew Tate.

This incident was fairly shocking since G2 Esports had just signed a new all-women League of Legends roster: G2 Hel and the organization also supports women in Valorant through its all-women Valorant team: G2 Gozen.

Notably, Carlos’ suspension will be in place during League of Legends Worlds 2022 where G2 Esports will be competing as a representative of Europe.