Two Valorant players have been suspended from Riot-sanctioned esports competitions following an argument about in-game teabagging.
The news was shared on the Valorant site, stating that Dawn “Dawn” Park and Vivian “Risorah” Dela Cruz used vulgar language and harassed a member of the Galorants community.
Dawn has been suspended from competitions for three months; Risorah has been suspended for nine months.
Galorants is an all-female competitive Valorant community. The two players were part of VCT Game Changers, a programme by Riot intended to promote and support women in esports.
The news comes after the Galorant Discord server was shut down due to a heated discussion around whether in-game teabagging is equivalent to sexual assault.
The debate spread to social media, where “Dawn’s responses included a vulgar and targeted remark” towards another player, states Riot.
Risorah is accused of creating multiple Twitter posts targeting the same player and posting edited videos with “vulgar commentary”.
Dawn has since written a Twitlonger where she addressed the allegations.
“I have friends that have literally been raped. I have watched SA happen in broad daylight. It is not something you can compare to crouching in a video game. I was visibly upset by this, as were hundreds of thousands of people, and replied under her thread expressing my frustrations and concerns,” she wrote.
“I shitposted on Twitter and apparently it’s vulgar language. Thousands of other people including pro players and streamers have done it, but nothing for them,” she continued, with links to the offending tweets.
Risorah has also released a statement.
“While I’m still having a ton of emotions right now, it’s worth noting that I will be taking this punishment with the responsibility of my actions that led to my situation,” she said.
“I take full responsibility for my actions, that’s all from there. My future in competitive play or in Valorant in general is unknown, so, we’ll see where I go from here.”
