- Esports professional player Jay Won, known as
Sinatraa , was accused of sexual abuse. - Won's ex-girlfriend Cleo Hernandez posted a 9-page Google Doc to Twitter in March.
- Since the allegations, Won has been suspended from professional play and his team, the Sentinels.
Jay Won, a professional esports competitor for the multiplayer video game Valorant and the 2019 Overwatch League MVP, has been suspended from professional play by Riot games until September after being accused of sexual abuse by his ex-girlfriend in March.
Riot Games issued a ruling on Won on Monday, and said it would have him "complete professional conduct and professional conduct training." The post notes that "the investigation did not come to a definitive conclusion on the underlying allegations" but Won had "on at least two occasions... misrepresented certain facts."
"To the extent that additional material information comes to light, from law enforcement or otherwise, the Competitive Operations team reserves the right to reopen the investigation and take further appropriate action," the post said.
In the nine-page Google doc posted to Twitter in March, Cleo Hernandez accused the 20-year-old Won of manipulating her into having sex as well as gaslighting her over the course of their nine-month relationship in 2019.
-cleooo (@cIe0h) March 10, 2021
After the allegations surfaced, the Valorant Champions Tour NA Twitter account announced that Won would be suspended "throughout the investigation and therefore he will not be able to play this weekend."
-VALORANT Champions Tour NA (@valesports_na) March 10, 2021
Won's team the Sentinels also tweeted that they would be launching an investigation into the matter and that he is suspended while it is pending.
-Sentinels (@Sentinels) March 10, 2021
The San Francisco Shock team, which Won left in 2020, issued their own statement about the allegations, saying "we do not condone behavior of this sort in any way."
-San Francisco Shock (@SFShock) March 10, 2021
Blizzard's Overwatch League Twitter account wrote that they are "aware of allegations made" and will refund any player who purchased Won's 2019 MVP skin Alien Zarya.
-Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) March 11, 2021
Won's ex-girlfriend made allegations of sexual abuse and gaslighting in a Google Doc
Hernandez referred to incidents throughout her and Sinatraa's relationship in the Google doc.
"What I want to talk about is the sexual abuse that was prevalent throughout most of our relationship," Hernandez wrote. "I never wanted to speak out about this and still have extreme trauma relating to this topic but I'm incredibly tired of keeping this secret for him."
She went on to describe alleged incidents of sexual coercion and said she "lived in fear" during their relationship. Additionally, she shared screenshots of messages she says were between herself and Won in the Google doc.
Hernandez tweeted out that she had been working on this document since April 2020 and thanked her supporters.
-cleooo (@cIe0h) March 10, 2021
Hernandez's original tweet spread on Twitter, getting 20,000 likes in under 12 hours. "Won" started to trend overnight, pulling in over 10,000 tweets discussing the allegations.
Daniel Francesca, known as streamer Dafran, defended Won, tweeting that "we have to wait for Sinatraa's side of the story." Won has yet to respond to the allegations publicly.
-Farmer Dafran (@dafran) March 10, 2021
Won responded on Twitter, writing that he "never assaulted her in any way."
-Jay Won (@sinatraa) March 11, 2021
Won has been accused of toxicity in his professional career
Won started gaining traction in the world of Overwatch when he was just 16, becoming the highest-ranked player in the game in North America. His skills were overshadowed by his behavior and the comments he would say to teammates. Won was seen on stream calling his allies "trash" and intentionally losing games in several instances.
In 2017, Overwatch developer Blizzard created the Overwatch League, an esports tournament series that would have the best players compete weekly. Won was a high-value target, who ended up being signed to the San Francisco Shock for $150,000 a year.
Won would make his debut on stage in 2018 when he turned 18 and in 2019, he carried the Shock to a spot in the Grand Finals and earned him the MVP award for the season. After the win, he made an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon."
After retiring from pro Overwatch in 2020, Won moved onto Valorant, Riot Games' recently released competitive shooter game. In April of that year, he was signed to the Sentinels Valorant team.
Claims that Won had reformed have been spreading over the past three years - in January, theScore esports posting a video titled "The Redemption of Overwatch's Toxic Superstar." Still, clips of Won acting out can be found as recently as this year on YouTube.
Won and the Sentinels esports team did not respond to a request for comment.