Alienware ends LoL Esports deal early due to Riot CEO allegations
Dell-owned computer hardware company Alienware has confirmed they’re terminating their deal with Riot Games due to allegations of sexual harassment surrounding the game developer’s CEO Nicolo Laurent.
It was revealed in February 2020 that Riot Games were investigating Laurent for gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims following a filed labor lawsuit. The case, filed by former Riot executive assistant Sharon O’Donnell in January 2020, claims that she was wrongfully removed from work duties after declining sexual advances made by the company’s head. “Alienware has been a valuable partner to Riot since January 2019,” Riot Games told Dot Esports. “We can’t comment on our agreement with them at this time due to confidentiality obligations. As we continue discussions with them, we have removed their branding from our broadcasts.” https://twitter.com/Alienware/status/1317246447880994817 It was in January 2019 that Riot Games announced theirmulti-year partnership with Alienwarethat saw the company support League of Legends esports as its official “competition PC and display partner.” Their monitors and computers were utilized across the aforementioned competitions as part of the deal. It appears that Alienware will still have a presence in League of Legends. They’re a prominent partner with LCS team Team Liquid, owning the naming rights to the org’s facilities in Los Angeles and Utrecht, Netherlands.
