Following the release of the video showing him partying with Andrew Tate, and after being fired from his organization for 8 weeks, Ocelote announces that he has finally resigned as CEO of G2 Esports, a structure he founded over eight years ago.
the end of an era
Over eight years ago, in January 2014, after spending three years making a name for himself in the League of Legends scene as a mid laner for team SK Gaming, Carlos “ocelote” Rodríguez Santiago founded Gamers2; Initially focused on League of Legends, the organization branched out into other games like Rocket League, RainbowSix, or CS:GO, eventually changing its name in October 2015 to become G2 Esports. Considered a veteran in the field of esports and founder of the prestigious organization in the world, Carlos Rodríguez, also known as “Ocelote” or “CarlosR”, announced last night that he had submitted his resignation from his position as CEO within G2 Esports, decision that was accepted by the board of directors and the direction of the structure.
This news comes after the recent controversy surrounding the video that shows Ocelote partying with Andrew Tate, a more than controversial person accused of misogyny and human trafficking. Due to Andrew Tate’s past legal troubles, this has caused people to question the ocelot character itself, especially since the latter didn’t necessarily get the right reactions after the video was posted, the ex-G2 CEO had posted on Twitter that no one could ever control my friendships and that I can party with whoever I want.
The consequences of this video and its various reactions quickly had a more than negative impact on the image of the club as a whole, events that unfortunately and certainly happened at the worst time for Ocelote and G2; As Riot Games announced some time ago, the studio released this week the list of 30 teams selected to join the partnership program in Valorant; Riot Games would have validated, at first, the candidacy of G2 Esports as a new partner within the North American league, but the studio would have finally and very suddenly backed down, thus failing the two candidacies of the structure. This turnaround would be largely due to all this controversy surrounding the publication of the video and Ocelote’s behavior. G2 Esports had tried to calm the vox populi by announcing that it had made the decision to suspend its CEO and founder for a period of 8 weeks, a kind of forced discharge without pay; Unfortunately, this didn’t necessarily have the expected effect, and G2 saw their image continue to deteriorate day after day. Many people thought that this measure was not enough and called for other measures to be taken.
Thus, the controversy likely cost the organization a spot in VALORANT’s VCT America league for 2023. However, after the video, Riot Games allegedly held an emergency meeting where they decided on the organization’s replacement within the league. The refusal to integrate the partner program has certainly pushed Ocelote and G2 Esports to make this final decision, a decision certainly motivated in the shadows by the pressure exerted by the organization’s shareholders. At the moment, we do not know if this will have other consequences for the structure, with G2 Esports being involved in many scenarios and at a very high level. Almost a week after the events, Ocelote announces that, therefore, he has resigned from his position as CEO of G2 Esports, information also confirmed by the club.
It’s been a tough week for all of us after the events of last weekend. Today we received and accepted Carlos’s announcement to resign as CEO of G2 Esports.
As a global esports organization serving the world’s most diverse fan community, we take responsibility for our fans, employees, team members and partners around the world. In this context, we want to emphasize that we do not support any form of misogyny. We continue to prioritize promoting inclusion and supporting a diverse gaming community.
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) September 23, 2022
Ocelote also shared his own message about leaving the organization in a video posted on Twitter and captioned “thank you”; In particular, he stated that he created G2 more than eight years ago and that it started with what he earned as a player, he invested everything, not only money, but also time. He also says that his time in G2 was over, something that was difficult for him. He said that he took full responsibility for what happened, the video shows him partying with Andrew Tate and his subsequent behavior, and concluded by saying that he hopes to be remembered for the good things he has done. There is currently no word on who will replace Ocelote as CEO of G2.
— CarlosR ocelot (@CarlosR) September 23, 2022
Of course, the reactions were numerous after the announcement of Ocelote’s departure; Many former and current G2 members have expressed their gratitude for the former CEO’s work within the organization. Many people showed their support for Carlos, with most saying that G2 and esports in general would not be the same without his influence on them.