French StarCraft II superstar Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri, who recently signed a new deal with the prominent Evil Geniuses organization one month ago, has been suspended by his team without pay for the month of October. The action, taken after Stephano's comments were broadcast live online, mean he will now miss DreamHack Bucharest and The GD Invitational.

Earlier this week during a live stream on TwitchTV by fellow Starcraft II player and friend Team Dignitas' Samayan "BlinG" Kay, Stephano sent a private message over Battle.net regarding sex with a minor. “Sam, I abused a child yesterday”, Stephano said to Bling in a screenshot grabbed during the stream. “14 yo,” Stephano continued, after a response of “wtf” by Bling. “I might only be interested in milfs and kids now.”

Stephano arrested at a nightclub in June after DreamHack Summer.

Stephano apologized on Twitter later that day saying it was just a “private joke, nothing serious”. Some fans did not feel his apology was satisfactory, and began to email Evil Geniuses sponsors about his actions, including Intel, Monster Energy, and Steel Series. Following this, Stephano tweeted that it was “people's stupidity” that caused him to regret going professional with StarCraft, and that in turn caused him to play poorly. Evil Geniuses has issued its official response, addressing not only Stephano but the comments that he made.

“Today, Evil Geniuses announces that French Zerg player Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri has been suspended without pay for the remainder of October, following his recent inappropriate comments. We sincerely apologize to the respective organizers of these tournaments for any inconvenience the last-minute cancellations may cause”. the statement reads. “That apology, however, obviously comes as secondary to a much more significant and direly-needed apology for Stephano’s inexcusable comments themselves. An apology in his own words can be found at the bottom of this post, but additionally, everyone at Evil Geniuses – including management, players, and staff – would like to sincerely apologize for these comments. They do not reflect our company’s sense of morality, behavior and propriety, and they will not be tolerated.”

Stephano has also issued his own apology. “I want to very sincerely apologize to all of my fans, my teammates and management at EG, all of EG’s sponsors, and the rest of the community for my comments last week. They were insensitive, inappropriate, way over the line, and are deserving of the serious ramifications I have received from my team. I accept responsibility for my mistake, and I will be more careful in the future.”

Evil Geniuses went on to say that although Stephano has been penalized and suspended for October, the matter is not closed within the organization and more ramifications may be dealt out. Although suspended in October, another recent tweet by Stephano suggests he will be heading to Korea in the meantime, with many speculating he will play in next season's GSL Code S.

In June, Stephano was arrested at the Silver nightclub in Jönköping, Sweden, following his attendance at DreamHack Summer.