Shortly after Evo, the world’s biggest fighting game tournament, took place a few weeks ago, a number of stories started coming forth from participants and attendees. Multiple women came forward with allegations that gllty, a professional Street Fighter player named Leah Hayes with a significant fan following and a number of high placements under her belt, had sexually propositioned them at the tournament within minutes of meeting. Some even alleged that Hayes would touch them inappropriately.
As the stories started rolling out over social media from not just Evo but multiple tournaments over the years, Hayes herself confirmed some of the stories on Twitter, said others were slightly exaggerated, and denied some others. She also asked people not to defend her and asked for introspection on why anyone might.
Shortly after, Hayes was banned from Combo Breaker, CEO Gaming and Big E Gaming for all future tournaments. Today, Capcom followed suit and banned her from all Capcom Pro Tour and Street Fighter League tournaments.
Capcom response to allegations against Leah “Gllty” Hayes pic.twitter.com/ba7QsZFmZV
— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) August 15, 2019
While Evo has not commented on Hayes or anything that allegedly occurred at the tournament, it seems most other fighting game tournaments have been quick to react to the allegations.