Ex-Riot employee Criss Fowler came forward yesterday and accused a former EULeague of Legendsshoutcaster of sexual assault. After an outpour of support, today she identified him as Joe Miller.
In the last two weeks, the gaming community has seenwaves of sexual allegationstowards professionals in the industry. These accounts of misconduct, made mostly by women, are geared towards many individuals working within the gaming industry, ranging anywhere from Twitch streamers to game developers.
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In an essay posted on TwitLonger on June 25th, Fowler describes her encounter with a then-unnamedLeague of Legendscaster. It recounts multiple alleged instances of pressure Joe Miller had placed on her during 2014, demanding things like going back to her hotel room or asking her for pictures. Fowler also states that he engaged in inappropriate conduct, including molestation and repeatedly asking if she was faithful to her boyfriend at the time.
“I spent my first month at Riot scared I’d accidentally run into him,” she writes, “or worse, that he would gossip about me to colleagues and give people reasons to take me less seriously.”
The post also describes two other encounters with different male Riot employees. Fowler criticizes her treatment by Riot and the industry at the time the abuse supposedly took place. Unlike Twitch, which has been very active on the issue, includinghanding out bans to streamerssuch as Warwitch, DreadCone,IAmSp00n, BlessRNG, and Wolv21, Riot has seemingly been quiet on the topic so far.
Since the essay was posted, however, Fowler was met with support with many people corroborating the allegations. Some users confirmed the events that took place regarding Joe Miller, while others provided screenshots of similar inappropriate behavior by the former shoutcaster. Hopefully, gamers will see a positive response from Riot in the form of taking action, similar to Ubisoft, which hasspoken out about the accusations.
In what some are referring to as a rebirth of the #MeToo movement, dozens of women have gone on to accuse big names in the industry, includingAssassin’s CreedValhalla’s Creative Director Ashraf Ismail. Following the claims against him, Ismail has confirmed he would bestepping away from the upcoming titleto focus on his personal life and the issues. It is more than likely the industry will continue to see individuals coming forward about sexual assault allegations.
Criss Fowler’s Twitter containing screenshots and accusations against Joe Miller has since gone private.
