Dota 2 caster TobiWan under fire after accusations of sexual harassment

MANILA, Philippins - Veteran Dota 2 caster Tobi "TobiWan" Dawson is under fire after multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault surfaced on social media.

Dawson tried to present himself as an ally to the victims after fellow caster Grant “GranDGranT” Harris was removed from Evil Geniuses following multiple harassements and inappropriate conduct toward women in the gaming community.

This backfired. Cosplayer Meruna recalled how the then 26-year-old Dawson took advantage of her naivety in 2011. In a statement, Meruna, who was then 18 years old, said she was "a child with no concept of consent, red flags or friends-with-benefits."

"We were playing a harmless game of '20 questions', or what you will call it. You know, 'Have you been in love?' and the like. His last question was 'How many inches do you think I am?'. I said 'Oh, like your body height?' This should be enough to show you that I was a dumb/innocent kid with a crush," she added.

YouTuber and streamer Ashnichrist also shared an instance where Dawson made inappropriate sexual advancements against her.

In response, Beyond The Summit co-founder and fellow caster David “LD” Gorman they would no longer be working with Dawson.

 

Recent allegations of sexual assault and misconduct have come out against Toby. We believe them. We won't be working with him in the future.

— LD (@LDeeep) June 25, 2020

Gaming company Valve also decided to drop Dawson's voice lines from The International 10 Battle Pass.

Troels “syndereN” Nielsen, who is in a long-term relationship with Meruna, also said in a tweet that he will no longer associate himself with Dawson.

Nielsen and Dawson are an iconic casting duo who shot into fame in 2012.

People from the gaming community, including those who Dawson worked with for years, rallied behind Meruna.

It's clear Toby's actions are more than being a socially awkward person. That's what I believed once.

I don't know who you are
I don't know what "horrible actions" he's committed
I don't know if this will mean anything to you

If you come out publicly, I will support you https://t.co/7cG9U2yyKx

— Cap (@DotACapitalist) June 25, 2020

Just like @DotACapitalist, I believed he was just socially awkward. This, however, is just completely unacceptable.

My plead to everyone: please, listen to victims and try to understand how difficult it is to deal with issues like these.

Thank you.https://t.co/WZQPt6uxwY

— Troels Nielsen (@syndereNDota) June 25, 2020

Keep sharing, this is a deep rooted issue and we need to learn.
We need to reflect and improve ourselves, not just people in the spotlight, but everyone in the community.

— Sheever (@SheeverGaming) June 26, 2020