Former community manager for the game Evolve has been fired from his position for tweeting about Donald Sterling.
Josh Olin tweeted the following in response to Donald Sterling’s ban fron the NBA in regards to his racist comments made earlier this week:
Here’s an unpopular opinion: Donald Sterling has the right as an American to be an old bigot in the security of his own home. He’s a victim.
People saw the tweet and immediately took the assumption he was supporting Sterling. In any case, the online reaction was not positive and Olin received a lot of angry responses.
This prompted Turtle Rock Studios to fire Olin as they tweeted:
The comments made by our former community manager stand in stark contrast to our values as a game development studio. We sincerely apologize for his remarks and in no way endorse or support those views.
Olin sent out a statement to Kotaku explaining the reasoning behind his original tweet on Sterling:
Anyone who follows me knows my tweets were not in support of Sterling’s actions. Rather, they were promoting three core tenets I believe in: 1) The harm sensational media presents to society. 2) The importance and sanctity of your privacy within your own home. And 3) The right to be whatever you want to be as an American, as long as it isn’t hurting anyone else. That last point not to be confused with condoning Sterling’s actions, which I don’t.
That said, it’s disappointing to see that a select few in Turtle Rock and 2K Games management bought into this hysteria without even having a conversation with me – or even thoroughly reviewing the context of the tweets themselves. Ironically, it serves as a great example of why I hold tenet #1 above so close to heart. That said, everyone should totally still buy Evolve. The guys and gals making that game know their ***, and are making it good.
Moral of the story is to never tweet anything controversial. Some people may take it the wrong way and it could lead to you losing your job. Adam Orth was one other gaming personality that lost his job over tweets he made…
