Apex Legends dev Daniel Klein is fired after past sexist and racist blog posts
The lead game designer for Apex Legends, Daniel Klein, has been fired from Respawn Entertainment after a number of discriminatory blog posts resurfaced online. These old posts were both racist and sexist in nature, and as Daniel Klein revealed himself in a Twitter post, it led to him being let go from working on Apex Legends as of the previous Friday.
Apex Legends has marketed itself as a game that is inclusive to its audience. It has a cast of loveable rogues, a large group of them being LGBTQ+, with ethnicities from all over the world being included, too. No matter who you are, you’re more than likely going to find a Legend that resonates with you. It also helps that Apex Legends does have an ongoing story that puts diversity, as well as action and turmoil, in the spotlight. With all of that in mind, it’s painfully obvious why Respawn has parted ways with their lead game designer.
The posts in question can be seen here via a Thordan Smash video, where Klein – aged 27 at the time – makes sexist comments about women. One blog post goes on a misogynistic-filled rant about Eve from the bible story which takes some weird, twisted turns throughout. One part of the post states that “she’s not out to get you, even though the ‘moron chromosomes’ (XX) may make it sound that way”.
More damningly though is the post that Klein makes about African Americans, where he jokes that alongside keeping birds, he keeps “Africans” too.
The posts brought up were from 2007, and Klein has confirmed that it was indeed him that wrote them. It should be noted that Klein was a controversial figure within the Apex Legends community, mostly because some vocal players felt that he simply wasn’t good at balancing Legends. However, his reputation shouldn’t detract from the things that he did say.
“I said racist and sexist things, not because I deeply believed any of them, but because I knew I could get a reaction out of people,” Klein said in a Twitter thread. “That does not excuse anything I said; the impact of my words was the same regardless of what I believed.”
Despite being fired, Klein doesn’t hold any ill will towards Apex Legends or Respawn Entertainment. “I’m not saying EA or Respawn did anything untoward. They were absolutely within their rights to terminate me, much as I may disagree with that decision.”
Respawn Entertainment has yet to comment on the situation.
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