23savage posted a public apology after harshly criticizing Filipino Dota 2 players and accusing them of practicing cronyism.
Southeast Asia's star player, Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon, was caught in the hot seat after clips from his stream surfaced, showing his offensive comments against Filipino Dota 2 pro players. Even though he did not receive any major backlash, 23savage posted a public apology.
On a Twitlonger post, 23savage admitted that his words were "offensive and hurtful" to the Filipino professional Dota 2 scene. He apologized and regretted making those comments.
I would like to apologize for my offensive and hurtful comments about the Filipino Pro Dota Scene. I realize that some words were insensitive and not appropriate and I regret saying those words.
The carry player for Talon Esports also added that he'll learn from this experience and continue to grow.
I have a great relationship with our Filipino staff and I truly do not mean any hate towards the Filipino community and sincerely apologize to anyone that was affected by my insensitive comments. Moving forward, I am committed to learning from this experience and working towards becoming a better teammate and a more inclusive member of the Dota 2 community. I hope to regain your trust and support as I work to grow both personally and professionally.
Related articles
What did 23savage say about the Filipino Dota 2 community?
A Reddit post highlighted a moment during 23savage's Twitch stream and this gained a lot of traction. In the clip, he was playing a pub match and a player on his enemy team, said to be a Filipino, allegedly stream-sniped him and purposely banned his hero picks.
This caused 23savage to go on a rant about Filipinos in the pro scene. He criticized Filipino players as he believes they heavily practice cronyism. He said Filipino players are "like cancer" that will eventually spread as he believes they only take Filipinos into their team.
I don't want to play in a team full of pinoy players again, ever. If I were to manage a team and choose my own players, I will allow only 1 pinoy player in my team at most. I won't let my team have 2 or more pinoy players. (Jabz in the background: If there were 2 of them it will eventually become 3 soon. Exactly. The moment there are 2 of them in a team, it will eventually become 3 and so on. Like a cancer, they will gradually spread. And it's also better to not let them have any voice in recruiting new players, as they will only suggest other pinoys.
(Translations by Reddit user u/pplovesk)
Response to 23savage's comments
Despite the insensitive comments that targeted the Filipino race, the majority of the response under the thread agreed with 23savage. It seems like a lot of people found some truth to what the 21-year-old stated.
One user who claims to be a Filipino himself agrees with 23's statement. He believes that cronyism among Filipinos has affected the Dota 2 pro scene. He also brought up the incident where 23savage's former team, T1, kicked him to grab a Filipino player, Kim "Gabbi" Santos - which many people find a questionable decision.
Nevertheless, some people also acknowledge that this discourse can only spew more hate. 23's words might have hurt the Filipino Dota 2 community and hopefully, his apology can stop any escalating arguments.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates.
