Canadian Fortnite pro Evan "Cented" Barron has been dropped by Faze Clan after footage of him using a racial slur surfaced online.
The nine-second clip began making the rounds on Twitter on July 3, taking place on fellow Fortnite player Jacob "Hellfire" Hansen's Twitch stream sometime in December 2021. It shows Barron joining Hansen's Discord call and immediately using the n-word, which is met with some pretty uncomfortable grumbles by the rest of the voice chat.
Considering the timestamp for the recording is December 28, 2021, it's uncertain how it took six months for the clip to appear. Regardless, it seems to have gained enough traction that Faze has now pulled Barron from its team.
FaZe is constantly evolving and we expect our members to do the same.Cented is permanently removed from FaZe due to his use of hate speech. We, and the gaming community at large can’t tolerate discriminatory language any longer.July 3, 2022
"Faze is constantly evolving and we expect our members to do the same," a statement from the team's Twitter account read. "Cented is permanently removed from Faze due to his use of hate speech. We, and the gaming community at large can't tolerate discriminatory language any longer."
Barron provided his own statement on the situation in a TwitLonger: "First and foremost, I am sorry. Not sorry I was exposed, but sorry because I should've known better." He called his use of the word "immature" and "preventable," continuing: "I am sorry for my deep disrespect and disregarding the true nature and history of that word. My willful ignorance is inexcusable."
This isn't the first bit of trouble for both Faze and Barron to happen recently. Last year, Barron revealed in a now-deleted series of tweets that he was cautionedby Epic Games for toxic behaviour towards the game and other players. Around the same time, Faze became embroiled in controversy after four of its members promoted the incredibly shady "Save the Kids" crypto scheme.
