John ‘WundA’ Smith-Howell, co-owner of UK-based esports organisation Team 7AM, has stepped down and posted an apology after some of his comments were leaked online.
Direct messages (DMs) between himself and fellow co-owner Jody ‘Yoni’ Bruggeman made around Pride Month last year (July 2023) showed the pair making offensive remarks about the LGBTQ+ celebration.
Yoni said: “The entire team is against the pride shit… stupid pride shit makes me puke as well.”
WundA responded: “I don’t even disagree mate, but it’s some great PR bullshit for us, so players need to suck it up.”
The interaction was posted online by former Team 7AM League of Legends player Zhergoth, in response to a tweet WundA had made about ‘passion not paying bills and things not being free’ in reference to recent layoffs in the esports industry.
The community reacted in anger and disgust over the comments.
Craisze, whom Team 7AM featured in a Twitter post about Pride Month last year, told the org to ‘get fucked’.
In another tweet, Craisze added:
i can’t believe it. what the fuck
— cas! (@craisze_) January 30, 2024
fuck off @1trickyoniLoL and @7am_WundA. using my community for some “great pr bullshit”.
i feel backstabbed. how very fucking dare you
7AM also ran an initiative where they would donate money based on pride emotes their LoL players used in a match.
Some players questioned what the pride emotes had to do with playing a match and trying to win.
Update: Following the publication of this article, Esports News UK understands Team 7AM plan to close down. They’re planning on getting everyone paid what they’re owed and further statements and developments are expected.
Their slot in the Benelux LoL league will now belong to the team members. Known as One Way Esports, they are looking for an org to represent them. Update: they have now joined Genk.
Their CS roster are also looking for a new org.
Update: And CS player Duplicate has claimed they are not being paid what they are owed:
British Esports community manager Emzii, a trans woman Commonwealth Esports Championships gold medallist, who did some work with Team 7AM, has stepped away from the organisation.
She said: “Pride is not a PR stunt. It’s not a month long celebration. It’s certainly not a joke. It’s every day, coming together and standing up for each other when people take offence to you for simply existing.”
Director of operations Kieran has left, as have streamers Sashaino and CooledStorm.
Why did Zhergoth post the leaked DMs now? What’s the context behind this?
There is additional context to Zhergoth’s initial post leaking the DMs. Esports News UK understands there was a disagreement around half a month of pay last year.
We were told by sources that players were agreed to be paid for three months, and Team 7AM paid for two and a half months because of EMEA Masters, though the players were still scrimming during this time.
Some sources claimed that co-owner Yoni and 7AM’s former LoL coach Dipsy didn’t have executive powers to make certain promises to players.
WundA told Esports News UK that the contracts clearly state that pay is only until the last day of the split – and that their players have always been paid correctly.
There are multiple conflicting statements about this situation and it’s clear there were internal disagreements around it.
The disagreement around pay also perhaps explains why Zhergoth first responded to WundA’s initial comments on passion and pay, saying the following: “I’d reckon our passion more than paid the bills last summer.”
WundA responded with a line of laughing emojis.
This led to Zhergoth choosing to publish the leaked DMs.
It’s not clear what Yoni’s stance is on the situation as he hasn’t commented publicly on it.
Esports News UK has reached out to Zhergoth, WundA, Dipsy and Yoni for additional comment and clarification around this.
Team 7AM co-owner posts apology after Pride comments: ‘I’m deeply sorry and this isn’t my stance on Pride’
Team 7AM co-owner WundA has posted a statement this morning apologising for his comments.
He said: “I’m deeply sorry to people who we’re close to me and to all those affected by the comments made, those who know me well know this isn’t my stance. I couldn’t tell you what my thought process or mindset were at the time as this was some time ago.
“Nothing I can say here will change what has happened, I want to be clear that this isn’t my stance on Pride. On the back of this, I will be stepping down from 7AM with immediate effect.
“I would like to thank everyone who has supported myself and 7AM over the years. I wish everyone the best for the future and I hope to be able to earn my place in the community again.”
Esports News UK asked WundA for clarification around stepping down. For example, is it his role he’s stepping away from, and will he retain co-ownership of the business or not? He didn’t give a clear answer but said he will aim to update his situation around the business once he knows more.
Related article: A few months ago, Team 7AM released CS player SENSEi following his ESIC suspension.
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.
