Redeye retires from esports amidst allegations of abuse of power

Update: On June 29 Redeye announced on Twitter that he is retiring from the esports industry.

After James Banks published another statement with further accusations and details regarding Paul “Redeye” Chaloner on June 28. The accused host has decided to leave the esports scene for good. In his tweet he decried the abuse he received in the wake of the accusations as cruel and vicious. In order to protect himself and his mental state Chaloner has decided to remove himself from the scene entirely as he will no longer attend events as talent nor will he continue as managing director of Code Red Esports.

In his statement Redeye also offered an apology to those he treated unwell and stressed out that he never intended to upset them.

Redeye’s statement follows Banks’ second accusation on June 28. In that statement he not only shared further abusive experiences staff members at various organisations have witnessed but also made public the details of the closed court case against Redeye in 2015. Back then Redeye was found not guilty of the accusations of child abuse and domestic violence.

 

If there are further developments we will keep this article updated.

Original article from June 27 and June 28:
On June 27 esports personality James Banks accused Paul “Redeye” Chaloner and his agency Code Red Esports of abuse of power in the industry.

James Banks had hinted at today’s revelations first back in February with a cryptic tweet:

“A disease to the esport scene”

Insiders of the scene were speculating that he was talking about Redeye, a suspicion that proved to be correct as he has now laid out his accusations. In his detailled Google Doc Banks went as far to call Redeye “a disease to the esport scene”.

UPDATE: Redeye responded to the allegations and stated, that most of the Stories are not true.

Original article from June 27:

Allegedly Redeye has been abusing his position of power in the scene for many years. According to Banks he had firsthand experience with that at Gfinity. After Redeye was hired by the company he allegedly told Banks that his casting was not up to par and that he would be moved regardless of his running contract. When Banks insisted on the prior written agreement to be upheld, Redeye supposedly threatened him with destroying his career in the industry. Although Banks folded to the threat he also said that the episode caused him severe anxiety and depression and resulted in multiple attempts to take his own life.

As these feelings resurfaced after meeting Redeye again during February 2020 at BLAST Premier in London, Banks wrote the Tweet quoted at the beginning. As the tweet gained traction with many industry insiders speculating that it was about Redeye Banks decided to look further into the matter. He was also contacted by several former employees of Gfinity who shared their experiences with him.

Further abuse shared by anonymous staff members

The experiences shared with him also included an occassion in which Redeye allegedly picked a verbal fight with a staff member and proceeded to physically assault them by punching them. Banks continues on by saying that he has also heard stories about inappropriate conversations and sexual innuendos with female staff members during Redeye’s time at Gfinity. However these are unconfirmed as of now. Banks did say that he will post screenshots proving these accusations as soon as he has permission from the involved persons.

According to Banks Gfinity was not the only place where Redeye had been abusive to staff members. He explicitly lists PGL staffers at a Dota event as having also suffered from Redeye’s mistreatment.

As he was collecting evidence and trying to get journalists to look into the matter in more detail Banks claims to have been met by Redeye’s far reaching influence in the scene at every step. With no one willing to investigate further. Banks also reports that he has heard from multiple people that Redeye had been working behind the scenes trying to exclude him from being hired in the future.

Conclusively he accuses Redeye and Code Red Esports of having abused and still abusing their power and standing in the scene to damage his career and life in addition to many others, who have also felt that abuse.

First reactions

The accused parties have made first statements regarding the allegations. Redeye has denied “the majority of the accusations” but has refused further comments before consulting with lawyers.

Luke Cotton, COO of Code Red Esports and among the accused in Banks’ statement, has answered the allegations by raising accusations against Banks himself.

Cotton decries Banks’ accusations as disgusting attempt to carry out personal vendettas abusing the current movement in esports. In his statement Cotton then proceeds to accuse Banks of homophobic abuse in the past. Cotton also denies Banks’ claim that Code Red Esports tried to stop journalists from publishing any story.

Attached to his statement are screenshots from his recent conversation with Banks prior to publication of the allegations against each other.

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