Carlos Rodríguez and Andrew Tate partying together ultimately cost G2 Esports, the organization Rodríguez founded, a coveted spot in VALORANT’s partnership program. And while the controversy and fallout are starting to fade into the past, Rodríguez still can’t seem to shake it.
The latest development actually happened more than a month before all of the drama began. A post on the League subreddit dug up an August episode of Doublelift’s podcast Trash Talk in which Rodríguez boldly claimed he wanted G2 fans to demand he resign as CEO.
“Please, one day, G2 fans, demand that I leave my role as a CEO,” Rodríguez said. “This [would] be the biggest middle-finger content piece ever done. Like, I would not give a single, isolated fuck.”
While Doublelift smirked, Team Liquid CEO Steve Arhancet and T1 CEO Joe Marsh, who were also present for Rodríguez’s unknowingly prescient comment, did not seem to agree with his claim. And if Rodríguez had known what was to come, he probably would not have said it in the first place.
A month after the podcast, Rodríguez posted a video in which he could be seen partying with Andrew Tate, a misogynistic influencer and alleged human trafficker. While the actual video was a bad look, Rodríguez’s doubling down after the fact likely made everything much worse.
After initially telling fans that no one could “police” his friendships, he apologized before publicly liking tweets that contradicted his apology and supported Tate. Although Rodríguez likely never imagined the scenario, the controversy led him to step away from the organization and his role as CEO for two months without pay.
The biggest consequence, however, appears to be G2 being denied a spot in the VALORANT Americas league. Had Rodríguez not posted that video or defended his decision to do so, G2 likely would have been one of the 10 partnered teams in the league.
