Overwatch Contenders North America team Meta Skyfoxes has dropped their off-tank player, Yoon “FR3E” Tae-in, after he was accused of sexually assaulting a minor. The alleged victim sent out a series of tweets with claims that FR3E inappropriately touched a minor in her sleep.
Meta Skyfoxes released a statement at 4:50pm CT, announcing that it had “mutually decided to part ways” with FR3E. The Overwatch Contenders team had just announced their full roster yesterday in preparation for games that begin June 19.
“While we believe that this matter should be handled by the appropriate authorities, we take all allegations of this nature very seriously and apologize to our fans and the Overwatch community,” Meta Skyfoxes said through a statement. They did not comment on replacements for FR3E.
Throughout the day, this story has developed with more information. The accuser, who posted the original series of tweets around 4am CT, was pressured by social media to prove she did not falsify Facebook messages between herself and FR3E. She posted a video scrolling through the stated messages and accessing his profile.
FR3E also released a Twitter statement.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the lady in question who was hurt by my actions, and the fans who cheered for me,” he said. “But there are some untrue things that have become accepted as fact, and these I will clarify once I’m back in Korea.”
FR3E also said that he and the victim were actually in a relationship, and that he was a minor as well during it. Under South Korean law, a minor is any individual under 19 years of age.
Neither party has commented on the potential for criminal charges.
Published: Jun 14, 2019 09:12 pm