League of Legends Worlds music video delayed after Bwipo controversy
Riot Games delayed the release of the upcoming League of Legends Worlds music video to edit out professional player Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau, who is under fire for making sexist comments during a livestream. The video is now scheduled for Oct. 13, a few days later than originally planned. The delay announcement was on Oct. 8, where the official LoL Esports account stated that “we decided it wouldn’t be right ot showcase him in a piece that represents LoL Esports, pro players, and fans.”
Editing the player out of the video requires significant changes during the final stages of production. Bwipo was originally going to represent the Americas, but due to his actions and the removal of the player from the music video, “that region will not appear in this year’s video as originally intended.”
Bwipo’s controversial comment stated that women shouldn’t compete in esports tournaments during their periods, and that women “don’t have much room to be competitive, basically.”
The decision to delay and reedit the worlds music video is not a part of any competitive ruling, but a decision Riot made to represent its sport and community on a global stage. Worlds begins on Oct. 14, concluding on Oct. 28. The global tournament has three stages, with most of the stages featuring Fearless Draft.
In its latest developers’ vlog, Riot Games addressed smurfing, targeting boosting, and hitchhiking. Hitchhiking is queuing up with another account, typically a booster, and getting carried to a higher-ranked division. The system hits indiscriminately, resulting in even Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng’s League of Legends accounts becoming banned.