Echo Fox admits to defamation charge in settlement Esports organization agrees former general partner Rick Fox made false statements that harmed a co-founder and investor

Brendan Sinclair North American Editor Wednesday 4th March 2020 Share this article Share

Former League of Legends Championship Series team Echo Fox and one of its co-founders and investors have reached a settlement in a defamation suit.

Last month, a circuit court judge for Miami-Dade County, Florida produced a court order based on a settlement agreement between Echo Fox and one of its investors, Amit Raizada, that found former Echo Fox general partner and NBA star Rick Fox had made defamatory and false statements about Raizada while representing Echo Fox.

Fox himself was not a defendant in the suit.

The suit admits one of Fox's public claims about Raizada, saying that Raizada "uttered a racial slur" toward former Echo Fox CEO Jace Hall in "a heated email exchange." Shortly after that accusation was made public, League of Legends developer Riot Games launched an investigation into the incident, eventually giving the team 60 days to "take action by removing any individuals whose actions violate League rules and agreements" or else risk its spot in the LCS.

Echo Fox submitted a proposal to sell its slot in the LCS, but that sale fell through. In August, Riot and Echo Fox reached an agreement to terminate the team's participation in the LCS, with Riot selling the slot and providing Echo Fox with most of the resulting money.

In October, Fox reportedly left Echo Fox. Raizada's suit against the company was filed in January.