Respawn Fires Apex Legends Lead Game Designer for Sexist and Racist Comments - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 12 August 2021 / 1,979 Views
Respawn Entertainment has fired Daniel Klein, the lead game designer on Apex Legends, for sexist and racist comments he made in 2007.
Klein via Twitter has released a statement confirming he has been fired for the comments he made in 2007. He admits he said racist and sexist things and he has been open out it and been trying to become a better person.
"As of last Friday, I am no longer working at Respawn," said Klein. "I want to be very open here and say that I'm heartbroken and depressed. It's been a very dark few days. You may or may not have seen the awful, bigoted things I said in 2007. I wholeheartedly agree that THAT guy should have been fired.
"I have poured so much energy into becoming a better person since then, and right now I'm just very depressed because it feels I'll never be able to make up for who I was.
"I said racist and sexist things, not because I deeply believed any of them, but because I knew I could get a reaction out of people. That does not excuse anything I said; the impact of my words was the same regardless of what I believed.
As of last Friday, I am no longer working at Respawn. I want to be very open here and say that I'm heartbroken and depressed. It's been a very dark few days.
— Daniel Zenon Klein (@danielzklein) August 10, 2021
"I'm mentioning this because with the help of a lot of people who loved me in spite of the shithead I was sometimes I was able to make progress on the journey to becoming a better person. If my story can help one person out there in a similar position to see that there's a way to become better, it would at least serve a purpose."
Klein continued saying he doesn't believe Electronic Arts or Respawn Entertainment did anything wrong in firing him.
"Again, to be clear, I'm not saying EA or Respawn did anything untoward. They were absolutely within their rights to terminate me, much as I may disagree with that decision. I wished I could take time to decompress but that's not how my brain works. I have crippling anxiety and if I don't at least start looking for a new job, that anxiety will eat me alive. If you know of anything that might fit my skill profile, let me know.
"Lastly, I'm just truly sorry to the Apex team. This is a headache they did not need. I know what their future plans are and I absolutely believe Apex has a bright future. There's so much cool shit coming. I just wished I could have worked on it."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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14 years ago... If the dude is an asshole now, then by all means let him go, but that's plenty of time for a person to change.
2007!? Damn, here's hoping I didn't say anything stupid when I was in elementary school.
I agree he shouldn't be fired for it, especially when it was so long ago, but IIRC he was 28 or something when he said it.
If he's changed since this feels like an extreme reaction. Companies are probably being cautious in the wake of Blizzard's big scandal.
Let`s just say that there are plenty of serious crime that either expire or sentence is paid in 14 years, but nope, moronic statements are much more grave.
if this is like james gunn then this is a big mistake,
hes a big loss to apex and respawn,
hopefully someone picks him up and he makes another stellar project coz apex is amazing
He didn't make Apex, he was lead developer on it for the last year or so.
When the same standard is used in 10 years against the people that claim "reverse racism doesnt exist" and the like lets see if they will be just as receptive to cancel culture.
Cancel culture at its finest.
This is is worse than the trump supporters at capitol hill. You are going to fire someone from 2007.. LOL. I feel bad for the guy. He should sue them. How is this even legal, firing someone for something that happened 13 years ago??
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