League of Legends professional Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau admitted he “didn’t believe” his own words after claiming that women shouldn’t compete in gaming while on their period.
At the start of September, FlyQuest’s Bwipo was embroiled in controversy after claiming that “there is a time of the month where you should not be playing competitive games as a woman,” referring to women’s period. The Belgian also said that “there’s just not enough support for female pro players” during “their monthly cycles.”
The comments sparked backlash from females across the competitive gaming landscape, with Sjokz calling his fellow Belgian “ignorant.”
He apologized for the comments on September 10, but FlyQuest suspended Bwipo for their LTA playoffs series against Vivo Keyd Stars. Riot even delayed their World’s Music Video to cut out Bwipo.
Now, with FlyQuest in China for Worlds, Bwipo has admitted he “feared” for his career after making the comments, claiming he “didn’t believe” what he said in the first place.
“At one point, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I feared for my career and didn’t know if I’d even be able to play at Worlds,” he told Sheep Esports’ Armand Luque.
“It was really rough, especially because I didn’t believe what I said. I listened back and thought, “what I said was ridiculous.” It didn’t make sense. Being scrutinized for something you don’t stand by is hard, but you still have to acknowledge and take responsibility for it.”
Bwipo apologized for the “huge blunder” and for “misrepresenting” the LTA with his words.
“Sometimes you’re running thoughts through your head, trying to reach a conclusion, and you say something before realizing it’s wrong. Obviously, that was a huge blunder on my part, and I feel really bad about it because I don’t believe it,” he added.
“That’s been the hardest part—not being able to defend myself and say, I don’t believe this. I know I said it, and even if there were no consequences, I would still agree it was a terrible take.”
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