League of Legends Pro Bwipo Suspended for Sexist Comments on Stream

In a now-deleted stream on Sept. 9, 2025, League of Legends professional player Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau said that women shouldn’t compete in esports tournaments during their periods and that women “don’t have much room to be competitive, basically.”

While Bwipo said that everything he said was just from his experience and that he might be wrong, the comments still sparked backlash online due to their sexist nature and harmful ideas that might propagate from them.

As such, his team, FlyQuest, has decided to suspend him for the next series in the LTA playoffs and donate his prize money to causes that support women in gaming. “Comments that might discourage even one young woman from pursuing her dream of becoming a pro player harm the future of esports, and we take that very seriously,” said FlyQuest.

Sentinels female Marvel Rivals pro player Chassidy “Aramori” Kaye said that she won Ignite 2025 Stage 1: Americas while on her period. The tournament is considered an A-tier, which means that it is only attended by top teams. She’s a part of a mixed-gender team.

On Sept. 10, 2025, Bwipo published an apology on X, saying that he knows he made a mistake and that his comments were “ignorant and disrespectful to women, including those close to me.” He ended the apology by saying that he will be “taking steps to reflect, listen, and do better.”