Overwatch Team Fires Manager After Woman Says He Sexually Assaulted Her

Max Bateman (image via Twitter)

A woman said earlier this week that Max Bateman, former manager of the San Francisco Shock of the forthcoming Overwatch League, sexually assaulted her in September after a drink he gave her made her feel dizzy and confused, and later had her “in and out of consciousness”.

Fourteen hours after the woman posted about what happened on Twitter, using the handle “Krystlin,” the Shock fired Bateman.

Shock owner — and Sacramento Kings minority owner — Andy Miller said yesterday that Bateman was fired under NRG Esports’s zero-tolerance policy. (As of publication time, NRG Esports had not provided details about the policy.)

A spokesperson for NRG referred back to Miller’s statement and otherwise declined to comment. Bateman, who did not reply to multiple requests for comment, tweeted last night that he will be making a statement today.

He also tweeted “Not 100% true”at Krystlin and his former employers.

Krystlin wrote Sunday night on TwitLonger that, on Sept. 30, she and Bateman were out drinking with some players of the then-NRG Overwatch team. The following is a portion of her account in which she says she was assaulted:

I had a normal amount of drinks and started to feel sick which wasn’t normal. The last one I had was made by Max. I started to feel dizzy, confused, and started to dry-heave. That’s when Max suggested we should just leave so we Ubered back to Max’s place to get my house keys. He was supposed to drive me home after I had gotten my keys. Next thing I remember is falling asleep on Max’s couch and woke up because I was coughing up saliva/blood. I went into his room to lay down. He was in there playing games on his computer and left to go clean up the couch. After he was finished he came back into the room and played games for a couple more hours. At this point I was in and out of consciousness. I remember Max laying next to me but didn’t think anything of it because we’ve shared a bed in the past and nothing’s happened. That’s when he sexually assaulted me. In my mind I knew what was happening wasn’t right but I couldn’t move.﻿

(A host at a Las Vegas nightclub tweeted at Krystlin that night, saying that she was throwing up blood.)

Five days later, Krystlin says, she called Las Vegas police. Compete reached out Monday and Tuesday to the Las Vegas police, who have not yet provided a copy of any police reports, saying that they need to confirm with detectives whether the case is open or closed before providing any reports.

In her Twitlonger post, Krystlin said that Las Vegas police didn’t move forward with the case:

I filed a police report after but I was told there wasn’t enough proof/evidence. When Max was called in to give a statement he was a no-show to the detective and texted me asking if we could solve this between us.

The documents provided by Krystlin do not show what happened next with the police investigation; the Las Vegas police have yet to comment to Compete on the status of the case.

Krystlin provided Compete with her own copy of the police reports she had, which included a two-page written statement she gave and a short, narrative blurb written by an officer. The voluntary statement, dated Oct. 6, included a more detailed account from Krystlin of what she says happened:

My last drink was made by Max at the table… At this point I felt dizzy, confused. So I drink water and started to dry heave. Max then said we should go… Next thing I remembered is falling asleep on Max’s couch. I woke up because I was coughing up saliva and red liquid (blood?). So I went to his room to lay down… I was in and out of consciousness. I felt I could not move my body. Max then layed next to me he then processed to sexual assault me. I know in my mind this was not OK. I had no power over my body to stop him. Verbally I could not talk. At this point I just layed there with no knowledge of time, when I woke I wasn’t sure if this really happened. I then told him to take me home at about 9am. I was very confused. I arrived home it was a blur. I finally went over the situation in my head many times over and over and realised he did sexually assault me without my permission.”

The final page of the police report summarises what Krystlin told Las Vegas police and includes more details. Her full name has been omitted at her request.

Bateman told her to lay on his bed. After a few hours, [Krystlin] said Bateman laid in the bed with her and started to touch her chest and groin area underneath her clothes. [She] says she was in and out of consciousness and is not sure if there was penetration involved … [She] said when she got home there was vaginal discharge (blood).

Krystlin also told the police that she went to her OB/GYN on Oct. 5 to get examined and have blood work done.

Krystlin also posted screenshots Sunday of text messages that she says are between her and Bateman:

Another series of text messages she posted showed the following response, referencing a call from a detective.

This post will be updated if Bateman issues a statement or if Las Vegas police respond to our request.