North American esports organisation CLG have been utterly annihilated by the League of Legends (LoL) esports community for publishing a behind-the-scenes video on social media.
The video – now removed by the org but reposted below – shows general manager Daniel ‘Tafo’ Lee telling the team’s LoL players that it ‘might be the last time we have this roster of five playing’ following a defeat in the LCS.
CLG won one game and lost two last weekend, prompting org management to make roster changes. But it was the manner in which the video was shown, the fact it had been sponsored by Bud Light and the way it humiliated the players (including Pobelter, pictured left, and Broxah, right) that people took issue with. Many believed the conversation should have stayed private.
Cloud9 streamer IWillDominate – who recently guest cast some Chinese LPL matches – led a wave of criticism towards CLG over the video:
Many in the UK League community blasted CLG’s decision to publish the video.
Here’s a selection of views from various Brits or people in UK esports:
G2 coach GrabbZ was also critical of the video:
After removing the video, CLG also published this apology on Twitter.
They said their goal was to share an authentic moment and be transparent, but that they “recognised the negative light it brought” to their players and decided to take the video down:
There are many more comments flying around on social media and Reddit (here and here) deploying CLG’s actions.
Being benched is of course difficult for the players, as the team dynamic shifts and player morale may drop.
Speaking of benching, Team Liquid’s Welsh LCS pro Alphari was benched in early June ‘for performance and attitude reasons and private reasons’, but Alphari returned to Liquid’s starting roster with a win last weekend, though he was switched out for Jenkins again in one game.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
