League of Legends pro player Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau has been suspended by FlyQuest for sexist comments he made during a recent Twitch livestream.

While Bwipo started by saying women didn’t have enough support to become League of Legends pros, he quickly went into an unhinged tangent regarding women’s anatomy. He stated: “Their monthly cycles are extremely different from males, and there is no proper support system for women to go through what they’re going through.

“When a woman is on the wrong part of the month and playing competitively, there is a time of the month where you should not be f-ing playing competitive games as a woman, in my opinion.”

Esports community responds to Bwipo’s shocking statement

Of course, Bwipo’s uneducated commentary received some backlash by those who were watching his stream, as well as some general confusion about the statement he was trying to make. To solidify his opinion, he went on to mention that his viewpoint is based on his experience of living with a woman who played competitively for a while. He then anecdotally went on to add that she made it “really obvious when she was just getting irritated at every stupid little thing.” Maybe now, realising that he was in hot water, he added: “This is not me trying to be sexist or anything.”

After the livestream ended, clips of this talk circulated on social media for a while, even after the entire video was removed. Bwipo’s organisation, FlyQuest, then took to X to make a statement about his words: “Recently, Bwipo made sexist comments that are antithetical to FlyQuest’s core values. Every day, we try to make the gaming space better and that includes helping anyone with a passion for competition reach the highest possible levels of play.

That’s why we’re so proud of the RED program and our work to elevate diverse and underserved communities across gaming.”

FlyQuest went on to say that Bwipo’s statements may be discouraging to young women who want to become a pro player, which harms the future of esports as a whole.

“While our first impulse is to educate when clearly ignorant comments like this are made, accountability is also a core value of our organization,” FlyQuest stated.

Bwipo was suspended from playing in the LTA playoffs and his event prize money will be donated to causes that support women in gaming. Still, backlash from the esports community continued, with commentators, pros, and fans speaking against Bwipo for his ignorance regarding women’s bodies and capabilities. While it may seem like an esports-focused debate, Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere explained that this is harmful rhetoric that has held women back from a variety of things throughout history.

Bwipo took to X to apologize: “Hi everyone, I know I f-ed up. My comments were ignorant and disrespectful to women, including those close to me. I’m sorry to those I hurt. I regret using my platform to fuel vitriol and sexism instead of support, and I’ll be taking steps to reflect, listen, and do better.”