Jeremy Hambly Magic the Gathering Harassment Ban

Added 6 years ago by Don • Updated about a year ago by ohmyjosh

Part of a series on Magic the Gathering. [View Related Entries]

Overview • Background • Developments • Search Interest •

Category: Event Status: confirmed Origin: Region:

Type: Controversy

Tags: magic the gathering wizards of the coast harassment jeremy hambly cosplayer christine sprankle wizards_magic sprankle cspranklerun travis woo chrisgarrett

Overview

Jeremy Hambly's Magic the Gathering Harassment Ban, also known as #MagicGate , refers to a controversy surrounding the banning of YouTuber Jeremy Hambly from attending Magic the Gathering events due to complaints alleging he harassed cosplayer Christine Sprankle.

Background

On June 5th, 2017, Hambly uploaded a video titled "Playset Of Beta White Knights Prevent Rape Of MTG Cosplayer @cspranklerun" on the UnsleevedAfterDark channel. While the video has since been removed by YouTube, an archived version is available at the Internet Archive.^[1] In the video, Hambly posted a video criticizing cosplayer Christine Sprankle for complaining about harassment she had received on social media, claiming she was attempting to drive Patreon donations by pretending to be a victim.

Developments

In mi-November 2017, Sprankle announced that she was quitting Magic the Gathering following harassment she had received due to Hambly's videos.

On November 25th, the @wizards_magic^[3] Twitter feed posted a tweet condemning harassment and cyberbullying within the Magic the Gathering community, gathering more than 3,900 likes and 930 retweets over the next several weeks.

Magic: The Gathering @wizards_magic We're saddened by what happened in the Magic community this weekend. Cyber bullying and harassment are unacceptable, and we support those who come forward with their experiences. No one should be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome. We're working to be a part of the solution.

That day, UnsleevedMedia released a video titled "Here Is What Real 'Harassment' Looks Like," in which he addressed the accusations of harassment (shown below, left). The following day, the Tolarian Community College YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "In Response: What We Owe to Each Other," which outlined various instances of Hambly's harassment.

On December 7th, Wizards of the Coast suspended Hambly's Duelists' Convocation International (DCI) membership permanently.^[2] Additionally, professional Magic the Gathering player Travis Woo received a 1-year DCI ban for creating the "Magic the Bad" Facebook group. That day, Woo and Hambly posted videos on YouTube responding to their suspensions (shown below).

In response, a Change.org petition was created calling for Wizards of the Coast to "reinstate Travis Woo and Jeremy Hambly." Over the next several days, the petition gained over 13,000 signatures. On December 11th, Redditor ChrisGarrett submitted a post asking "Why are people boycotting Hasbro/Wizards of the coast?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[4] to which several users cited the Hambly controversy in the comments section.