I don’t want to sensationalize this issue any more than it already has been, but it seems like pro-GamerGate RevueLabs is no longer under Steve Tom Sawyer’s control. Sawyer, who has lately been focusing on his Carbon Based Radio program instead of the site, is under some serious fire tonight. A list of allegations (UPDATE: it’s now deleted, archive HERE) has been posted against him by his own former associates. That listing includes claims of harassment against women, and evidence the author says shows that Sawyer used GamerGate for personal gain. Full disclosure, I have worked with this author in the past, and have found him to be very trustworthy. That being said, these allegations are so serious, that we must be especially certain not rush to judgement. Sawyer has been a staunch ally in the past. Perhaps he has some explanations?
Some serious allegations are made about the demise Radio Nero as well:
“As I stated earlier, while I investigated, I dug some dirt and heard some rumors.
It came to my ears that it wasn’t entierly Brianna Wu’s fault that Radio Nero was crashed.Someone who wishes to remain anonymous told me “From Nero’s mouth: “trainwreck” and “personal liability” “.
Lexi added “He told me that Milo was a control freak and wanted to move it away from gamergate and gaming and had just USED HIM to get the backing of gamergate.”
I did reach Milo Nero Yiannopoulos by email. He didn’t wish to be quoted on the record, but he agreed that I could reveal that a conversation between us took place.
http://youtu.be/UczG0dWJpz8?t=1h16m25s
1:16:25 “I can’t get into the details of what happened there, but, hum, Radio nero isn’t be able to continue at this point”
But it’s the section about Sawyer’s supposed abuse of women that raises the real eyebrows. Here’s a long section from the person the author of the article:
“-So you joined RevueLabs to be in charge of the PR and advertising?
Yes, my initial role was to be in charge of communications. As time went on and it was a team of just me and Steve, my responsibilities grew far outside of that role. From recruiting staff members to web and graphic design, my roles were all over the place. Steve took great pride in recruiting women to work for his company and spoke of it often. Although each time he recruited a new female, he would tell me that whoever it was was definitely “into” him. When this would prove not to be true, he would blame the female for giving him “mixed signals”.
https://twitter.com/RevueMage/status/520512246145757184
https://archive.today/aJgjB
Did you know that @revuelabs staff is 50% women, and the company is owned by me, a black guy? #realequality #notyourshield #GamerGate-That’s kind of a misogynic statement, how do you feel?
As someone who took her role very seriously within the company, it was very difficult for me to hear that he had said that he only kept me around for PR and to have a pretty face. I put in hours upon hours of work for the company and as I stated above, gained no monetary benefit. It was never about money for me. Would I have loved to work for Revue Labs as Director of Communications/VP and had that be my job? Absolutely. I had hoped that that was the direction the company was going.
Steve constantly pressured me to quit my day job and work full time on Revue Labs. He wanted us to get a live-in office so we could work/live together, even though I was recently married. Before I left the company, Steve told me that he was in talks to have someone buy it out. I was thrilled for him but he wanted me to run Revue Labs. I told him that I would not be able to put in the time and effort to do so. He asked me to wait until January to leave and I agreed. Once I was notified that he had blamed the writing of the letter distancing Revue Labs from GamerGate on me, I felt I had no other recourse but to leave immediately. He lambasted my lack of professionalism by announcing it on Twitter but I had tried many times to leave in a professional manner and this betrayal regarding the letter was the last straw.
-RevueLabs is apparently half women, did you hear any feedback from other staff members?
Yes, I did. Some employees of the company felt like it was just Steve’s personal harem. He hits on girls and if they do reject them, he’ll blame them saying they sent “mixed signals”. Steve did harass some of them through SMS, skype calls, and was controlling with our twitter accounts. He went to the point to threaten to kill himself to blackmail some team member.-I want to thank you for speaking out, you’re very brave for that. I wish you the best for the future.
Thanks for letting me.”
I can’t say one way or the other whether these allegations are true. I can say that I have worked closely with the author of this piece, Adrien. I believe him to be honest. I know that he did talk to Milo Yiannopoulos, and that the story is filled with real allegations. I had heard rumblings about this affair for weeks, but didn’t want to touch it. After this post tonight, I felt like I had to. I not well-acquainted with the woman he interviewed, Lexi. I’ve never spoken to her outside of one or two tweets. So I cannot vouch beyond the author, and the authenticity of some of the content. Take all that for what you will. Hopefully, Steve will have some answers for all this in the morning.
UPDATE: Promienent GamerGate supporter and former RevueLabs employee Liz F, has said she wasn’t surprised by at least some of this. RogueStar has also chimed in…
@PandaStarGamez I didn't know about the company at all honestly. I was only there a few weeks. But I wasn't paid, at all, and now I know why
— Liz O'GingerMcIrish (@lizzyf620) November 27, 2014
https://twitter.com/RogueStarGamez/status/537826936559779841
