On October 22, 2024, a scandal erupted in the esports space after a well-known former professional player Chris de Jong, better known as chrisJ, who managed to play MOUZ and win a considerable number of trophies, made a racist statement in his tweet. He wrote: "Blacks are not English. You can only be English by blood. A piece of paper can't make me Congolese either. I'm Dutch." This statement caused a storm of outrage from the community, players, and analysts.
Community reaction and criticism
ChrisJ's tweet prompted a quick reaction from well-known figures in esports. Frankie Ward, a popular presenter and interviewer, strongly condemned such statements. She wrote in her response: “Seeing CS Twitter yesterday makes me strongly believe that organizations should provide support for players who are retiring and going back into the “real world”. It's a very online job and it's all too easy to fall into a dangerous rhetoric.” Frankie called on organizations to help players who leave esports to avoid similar incidents and dangerous rhetoric.
Other members of the esports community echoed this sentiment, pointing out that players can easily be influenced by toxic ideas and rhetoric after their careers are over. One commenter in the discussion noted: “Ironically, the most powerful thing the NFL Players Association has done is to provide this kind of support for athletes after their careers are over. Esports needs something similar.”
Consequences for chrisJ
After this scandal, many users on social media called for a boycott of chrisJ and refusal to support any projects in which he is involved. At the same time, some of his defenders tried to explain the situation, but most of the comments were critical.
It is currently unknown whether this situation will have legal consequences for chrisJ or whether there will be any statements from esports organizations. However, the incident has already caused a significant resonance and once again raised the issue of the need to support players after their professional careers.
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