Call of Duty League Caster Momo Released Following Allegations of Sexual Harassment and Abuse
Activision released Philip "Momo" Whitfield from his position as a commentator for the Call of Duty League effective June 30 following an internal investigation of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse.
Activision did not publicly announce Whitfield's ouster, leading streamer and former professional Call of Duty player Kerry "KerrBear" to speak out publicly against him.
Philip "Momo" Whitfield Fired from CWL? He Better Be! https://t.co/DgCnU7GcHS
— Kerry (@KerrBearrxo) July 2, 2020
"So basically multiple people have previously approached me with allegations against CWL Commentator Philip 'Momo' Whitfield and the stories I've heard are downright disgusting, let's get that one clear," she wrote in a blog post Thursday.
KerrBear wrote that the individuals accusing Whitfield of sexual harassment and abuse approached Activision privately, which resulted in his termination. She was disappointed to see Activision and Whitfield make no public statement about the situation.
"After waiting a few days to see if Activision was actually going to say anything publicly - low and behold nothing came of it, I noticed Momo decided to vanish into thin air on social media," she wrote. She could not immediately be reached for comment.
Effective June 30th, I was released from employment with Activision Blizzard
— Phil (@Momo) July 4, 2020
Read: https://t.co/flb1H6omSf
Call of Duty League Caster Momo Released Following Allegations of Sexual Harassment and Abuse
Whitfield released a statement Saturday saying he had been unable to comment because of the investigation that led to his termination June 30. He describes his offenses as having taken place years ago and being mostly related to making unwanted sexual advances over text messages, though he also says the details of the messages and their recipients were not disclosed to him.
"I take full ownership for my misjudgments and would stress how sorry I am for my conduct," he wrote. "I’m sorry for my immaturity, I’m sorry for any explicit content or graphic language I used, I’m sorry for any tasteless humor, and I’m sorry to anybody who I’ve caused offense to or who has suffered in any way as a result of my actions."
Several women, including KerrBear, have denounced Whitfield's apology as minimizing his alleged offenses.
Fuck it. I was one of the girls who went to Activision about Momo, I had never considered it at the time because I didn't want to ruin someone I had known for years and was a good friend of my ex partner over a comment, despite however disturbing the comment was. (1/??)
— Emilia Rose (@EmiliaRxse) July 4, 2020
"You know it wasn't years ago and you know it just wasn't messages," European Call of Duty player Emilia Rose wrote in response.
"I was one of the girls who went to Activision abut Momo," she continued in a series of follow-up tweets.
"Momo basically said that [he] wanted to sleep with me when I was underage at the event we met at (EGL10) and was wondering why in all these years we never had."
"However, recently I heard stories, that [were] way worse than what happened to me (and I've seen the proof) that span from before I met Momo in 2013 and even this year, in January," she wrote. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Neither Whitfield nor Activision responded to requests for comment.