A member of the Overwatch community has claimed that they were “groomed and sexually exploited” by Zouheir “GetAmazed” Baba, current head coach of the Washington Justice and former coach of multiple European Overwatch Contenders teams.
The poster, who goes by Kassian, detailed the accusations in a TwitLonger that circulated around the Overwatch community today.
According to the Twitlonger, Kassian hired GetAmazed on Metafy—a website where people can hire professional coaches for one-on-one sessions—to help with pursuing a dream of joining the Overwatch League. While the relationship started out professional, it allegedly turned personal and rose to being “emotional on both sides” within a few days.
The coach apparently told Kassian he was attracted to them within three to five days of meeting and began a “pushy and obsessive” solicitation of romantic and sexual content. Over the next few months, the relationship moved to Snapchat and became more sexual in nature. In the document, Kassian says multiple times that they felt “pushed” to continue the relationship.
Kassian reached out to Team Peps, the Overwatch Contenders team that GetAmazed coached for a good part of 2022, last August. The team’s manager allegedly wanted to solve this by putting them in a call together and “considered the situation resolved.”
The Washington Justice is aware of the situation, according to the document, and has been for “nearly two months.” In a screengrab, Grant “Keiranthil” Paranjape, vice president of esports business for the Washington Justice, thanks Kassian for their patience and directs them to a third-party law firm to handle further communication. Another provided screengrab shows the third-party representative telling Kassian the matter is “under review.”
GetAmazed and the Washington Justice have not yet responded to Dot Esports’ request for comment.
Published: Feb 27, 2023 05:40 pm