This topic has been continued in a follow-up article here.

Most Valuable Gaming (MVG) is a professional eSports team that sponsors some of the biggest names in the Super Smash Bros. series such as Mew2King, Ryo, and Sol. As a budding organization in the eSports scene, MVG conducts itself professionally and takes steps to protect its players and image.

Correction [9/3/2015 3:12PM EDT]: MVG does not officially sponsor Inui, but has an affiliation with him on their channel. Inui is officially sponsored by MVG.



Recently, MVG has been under attack because of a possible scandal with an employee. MVG has released an official statement on Reddit regarding the rumors that exploded overnight regarding their relationship with Cynthia Bunnay, whom the organization parted with as of July 28th.

The official statement has since been deleted by moderation on grounds of slander and witch hunting, but has been archived here. Bunnay has been let go as a result of privacy breaches, false employment promises, poor work performance, and general misconduct.

Through a series of text messages, emails, Tweets, and Facebook posts, a scandalous drama erupted among the Smash Bros. community. While there are various statements and quotes throughout this post, it should be noted that all of these are based on rumor, speculation, and angry individuals who feel attacked and wronged; take these quotes for what they are.

The purpose of this article is to get you up to speed and explain how we got to this point.

How it all began

Bunnay was temporarily hired to provide public relations and social media management for MVG. But, as a result of public and private reveals, drew a reaction across the gaming community. Money fraud, relationship manipulation, and borderline illegal practices are at the forefront of the allegations.

"She was granted the position within MVG based on her qualifications, all of which were later found to be completely false. As with all new hires, it takes time to verify all information provided."

-MVG Management, Reddit

According to Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, a professional Smash Bros. player sponsored by MVG, Bunnay was hired as a result of their relationship.

Publically posted on Facebook, the details of their encounter reads like something out of a Smash Bros. high school fanfiction. In reality, the allegations and rumors are dangerous, possibly slanderous, and the beginning is eerily similar to the Zoe Quinn scandal from last year.

In a he-said, she-said situation, there's only one spoiler alert: It doesn't end well.

Zimmerman and Bunnay met at a Florida tournament and later became friends over social media. Zimmerman admitted to wanting to pursue a romantic relationship and after learning that she went to college for event management, thought he could "kill 2 birds with one stone" by convincing his boss, Gregg Mondesir, to hire her.

According to MVG, he was far off base on her abilities to help the organization:

"The list of skills she claimed to possess, as well as her claims of having previous experience in the industry, are untrue. She provided misinformation regarding her overall expertise in those categories. During her employment, she performed poorly, with no willingness to improve and her continued employment with MVG would have proved fruitless."

-MVG Management, Reddit

Personal relationship confusion plagues MVG

In Zimmerman's long statement, he describes fraud and relationship confusion regarding Cynthia:

After buying her a $400 plane ticket whose return trip she didn't use, she never paid him back.

Before moving to Arizona for the job, she began a less-than-casual relationship with Ryan "Rages" Kidd and suggested an open relationship, which Zimmerman didn't want.

After being warned about her from other members of the Smash community, he confronted her on suspicions that he was being used for social status gain. As a result, their relationship temporarily soured.

Zimmerman reports that she repeatedly asked for pictures of them together and requested retweets, while simultaneously not being clear on their relationship status. If only it ended there.

A photo posted by @chibi_cynthia on May 27, 2015 at 1:08pm PDT

Scandalous activity and false employment propositions

After moving to Arizona, Bunnay was given many privileges while Mondesir was traveling out-of-country for business. While working for MVG, she was granted a free month of stay in his otherwise $2500/month apartment with access to his Mercedes-Benz for transportation. Apparently unknown to Mondesir, Bunnay flew out her then-boyfriend Kidd to live with her in the apartment. While unsolicited, Zimmerman and Mondesir agreed to "let it slide" to be nice and not "screw anyone over."

According to Kidd, he was unaware that the position was temporary, and the apartment was occupied.

"I was told by Cynthia, key note, by Cynthia that we would be getting an apartment there soon and she was employeed full time, when in fact she was not fully employeed but merely for a allotted amount of time."

-Ryan "Rages" Kidd, Reddit

"This is not how our organization operates. This is not how any organization operates."

-MVG Management, Reddit

But good things can't last forever. According to MVG, Bunnay "took it upon herself to establish unsanctioned employment opportunities with some individuals to work with MVG." The official Reddit statement apologized to those who had falsely believed they would be given employment and denied any involvement in illegal activities.

Jon "Solreth" Lackey, another MVG member who had prior association with Bunnay, also confirmed his dissatisfaction. He detailed how she provided false contracts, dodged attempts to discuss business, refused to talk to the streaming manager, gave late stream notices, and "bragged about coercing Mew2King into thinking she would date him."

"She reallocated funds intended for the Florida MVG team and pocketed them for her own misuse (Namely a fine trip to Vegas). I have always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but Cynthia is a toxic individual solely out for her own personal gain. I would not be surprised if she has not black mailed her way through the majority of the fighting game industry by now."

-Jon "Solreth" Lackey, Reddit

As part of his rant, Solreth also notes that because of her tardiness and lack of communication, he blames Bunnay for indirectly almost killing him:

"In one such instance, I was 45 minutes from the target location and sick to boot. I got on my motorcycle to try and meet the demands put before me. This was a mistake. As I accelerated onto route 441 my motorcycle entered speed wobbles. Forgive my further lack of detail, I was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia in the ambulance there. This motorcycle crash nearly took my life, shattered my spina bifida, and has presented me with a persistent back pain to this day."

-Jon "Solreth" Lackey, Reddit

Privacy breaches via Facebook messages

Zimmerman was horrified upon learning from Bunnay that she had gone through his entire Skype and Facebook logs, despite a week prior confronting her about her own privacy.

"She accidentally left her facebook logged in, and instead of me going through her Facebook privacy, I closed it down and told her that 'Hey you left your Facebook log in saved and for future reference you shouldn't do that because a less good person would have went through everything given the chance.' I assumed she would do the same for me that I did for her (just close it down if I made the mistake of leaving it open). I was wrong."

-Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Facebook

The privacy breach was the last straw for Zimmerman and Greg.

"It completely destroyed any liking/love I had towards her, and at that moment it ALL changed for me emotionally. A 180 degree spin. I hated her at this point. I felt betrayed completely. At this point I talked to Gregg and told her she needed to go."

-Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Facebook

Bunnay had henceforth been terminated. While the official statement regards it as a mutual transaction that ended amicably, Lackey has previously contested these statements on Reddit.

"Cynthia didnt jump ship, she was fired. The ideals expressed by Gregg have always been pure. The first and foremost consideration has been the Smash community. Maybe this means I will be seen in a negative light, or biased or worse, but all I can do is attempt to express the truth."

-Jon "Solreth" Lackey, Reddit

The other side: Bunnay's responses are far from graceful

Ryan responded to the statements and allegations of Bunnay with unexpected negativity and confirmation.

"I am very sorry for all the negative actions Cynthia has done and how many negative repercussion came from them. She has hurt and taken advantage of not only many people, but many companies as well."

-Ryan "Rages" Kidd, Facebook

His words echo Zimmerman's and confirm suspicion about relationship manipulation.

"Multiple times during our relationship she would tell me how 'the negative attention from Melee Hell[*] and everyone would only help me get more famous.' I was blind to the fact that she was also using me just as she was everyone else. Not only did she use me to get a personal 'gain' from the community, but she also manipulated me and Jason into having issues, and screwed me over on more than one account."

-Ryan "Rages" Kidd, Facebook

*Melee Hell is the name of a popular Facebook group used within the Smash community.

After learning about the messages and posts, Bunnay reportedly "panicked" and spoke out on her Twitter to defend herself, which garnered her even more negative attention from her overly defensive tone and damning statements about MVG.

Hey everybody! apparently there's a big thread about me. I haven't read it yet, but pls remember that it's written by salty people — H0neyBunz (@CynthiaBunnay) September 3, 2015

One of whom has autism and Asperger's. I've done my best to be quiet, but I'll answer any ?'s and clear things up to the best of my ability! — H0neyBunz (@CynthiaBunnay) September 3, 2015

She also began posting private conversations between her and Mondesir, highlighting discrepancies between what she was told and rumors. These discrepancies include her job description, money allocation, and how she would receive her belongings on her return home.

Gregg had a way of accusing people of things, I had some time to think and finally responded with everything pic.twitter.com/nYAfVDE5P6 — H0neyBunz (@CynthiaBunnay) September 3, 2015

That's a lot of popcorn.

MVG uses fake sponsors and sweet talks with promises. pic.twitter.com/CM0H8EKP06 — H0neyBunz (@CynthiaBunnay) September 3, 2015

Bunnay has since apologized for her Tweets attacking Zimmerman's mental disability and chalked up the situation to misunderstandings blown out of proportion. She has stated that she will privately answer MVG-specific questions, but no longer wishes to discuss personal business.

The Smash community has, overall, not been very supportive of Bunnay. While many of the statements have contradicted themselves and are hard to prove, the one piece of incriminating evidence has come from ex-boyfriend himself, Kidd.

Original reddit post and an insight on how Cynthia treats others. https://t.co/ieXO6LVRvT @MVG_Mew2King pic.twitter.com/YiXlmxKzXf — Ryan Kidd (@_Rages) September 3, 2015

Whether Bunnay will be ostracized or not from the FGC remains up to debate, but she has since tweeted positive messages and recognizes that she has "relationship issues" she'll "work on."

The animosity towards Bunnay can easily be chalked up to sexism and a popularity contest, especially since commenters on Facebook and Twitter have expressed their dismay through gendered slurs and insults.

Some find Zimmerman hard to empathize with

There have even been rumors circulating about Zimmerman threatening to leak private photos of Bunnay out of revenge.

if Jason wants to send out my private photos to get back at me for not wanting him anymore I understand. — H0neyBunz (@CynthiaBunnay) September 3, 2015

People do vile things, but there must be a way of expressing your utter disappointment aside from profanity + threatening to leak photos. ð — Lil | Milktea (@_lilchen) September 3, 2015

Others have sided with Bunnay on the premise that Zimmerman's initial anger with her is from a distorted romantic conflict and that it's hard to side with someone who uses terms like "friend zoned."

However, the evidence against her is hard to ignore. The only thing gamers can hope now is that the Smash community doesn't fall into the pattern of women-targeted harassment all too common on the internet. Cynthia Bunnay only highlights the latest in what is notoriously known as "Smash drama" within the community.

Broadcasting private information and threatening to send nude photos and engage in revenge porn is not something anyone should support as a justified punishment, and MVG certainly doesn't need their image tainted as a result of the very community they're supporting.



Correction [9/6/2015 11:41AM EDT]: Retracted a previous correction stating Inui is not officially sponsored by MVG. According to many community members, Inui is sponsored. MVG's official Facebook and website do not have any dedicated About pages stating who they sponsor, so please take any direct inquiries to MVG.

Note [9/6/2015 8:09PM EST]: Cynthia Bunnay is Cynthia Chang's pseudonym.

