Pro 'League of Legends' player fired after accusations of abusing girlfriend during livestream
Warning: This story is about an incident that is distressing.
A professional League of Legends player has been fired from his team, after he was accused of beating up his girlfriend and inadvertently livestreaming the incident.
Chinese player Li Wei Jun, better known as "Vasilii" in the gaming world, was on Thursday livestreaming his gameplay of a match, which he proceeded to lose.
His girlfriend is heard in the background telling him not to lose his temper, especially during a livestream where many fans would be watching him.
"I told you not to speak in such a manner. You have a problem you know, you keep losing your temper," she says.
At this point, he continues chatting with her, while complaining about a gamer from a rival team.
"He drives me insane," Vasilii can be heard saying.
"Just block him. You can block him next time. He's also streaming you know, you'll look stupid [to the player's followers]."
At this point, Vasilii flies into a rage. He can be seen flipping his desk, presumably sending his webcam flying, though it still manages to audibly capture and broadcast what's going on in the background.
Warning: This video contains distressing footage.
"F*ck you! F*ck your mum! Are you looking for a beating? Do you believe I'll kill you?" the 6"4 (193cm) tall player begins shouting, as his girlfriend can be heard screaming in the background, including what sounds like someone being hit.
"What did you mean by what you said just now?" he continues shouting.
"I said it to help you. Have I ever tried to harm you? You beat me over this?" she says, through sobs.
His continued shouts can be heard in the background, until the video suddenly goes silent.
Moments later, the camera's position is moved again, presumably after he begins putting his things back, and he is soon seen in front of the camera as he calmly begins another game.
According to the Beijing News, police were notified of the incident and arrived at the player's doorstep, but did not bring him in for questioning.
The 23-year-old player later posted a status on Chinese social media website Weibo, saying "Why does no one pay attention to my strengths? You only like to watch me when I'm doing something rash?"
The status was deleted soon after, but not before attracting a stream of criticism, where many followers said he was "shameless" and clearly unapologetic about hitting his girlfriend.
The video of the incident has also gone viral, with the word "Vasilii" being discussed some 32 million times on Weibo.
The incident was also later picked up by e-sports fans across the globe.
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His League of Legends team, Newbee, later posted on Facebook that they had terminated his contract for "committing acts of violence."
Vasilii had only joined the team in May this year.
This isn't the first time Vasilii has been caught losing his temper.
The player is known for rage quitting in the middle of matches, and can be seen in this video quitting mid-game, and smashing his and his teammates' equipment.
A tweet from earlier last year also claims to show the damage Vasilii did in that incident.
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Vasilii had earlier this year also issued a statement to fans saying he was playing poorly due to "sensual pleasures" and was briefly replaced on the team.
According to the All-China Women's Federation, 1 in 4 Chinese women have experienced domestic abuse.
The country adopted its first ever bill against domestic violence in 2016, but critics say the law fails to deter criminals as the penalties are too light.
If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224.
UPDATE: Nov. 23, 2017, 6:01 p.m. SGT A previous version of this story stated that the player had abused his girlfriend, this has now been corrected
Topics Esports Gaming League Of Legends
Yvette is a Viral Content Reporter at Mashable Asia. She was previously reporting for BBC's Singapore bureau and Channel NewsAsia.
