Hearthstone pro, Jon “Orange” Westberg has been suspended for 1 year as Blizzard become aware of a sexual assault conviction in 2019.

The public was first made aware of the suspension on 17 May 2022 via Twitter from Westberg himself. He announced that he was not noticed prior to the decision being made and that he’d appreciate the time to address the issue as it was a sensitive subject, and that it was “a mistake from his past” that occurred in 2018, resulting in a conviction in 2019.

https://twitter.com/HS_Orange/status/1526656282068979716

He later came out with a Twitlonger explaining the situation and apologising for his actions. He mentions the allegations in brief but declines to talk about them in-depth as there are public documents on the internet that report the allegations and he fully admits to them.

https://twitter.com/HS_Orange/status/1526981678509457408

It was later discovered that documents regarding the 2018 case were found on the Swedish website, Lexabase which unfortunately are not available to the general public, but require membership.

According to PC Gamer, the unnamed complainant alleged that after a night of drinking with Westberg and two other friends, Westberg attempted to force himself on her while she was asleep. Westberg admitted that he had put his hand under the complainant’s bra while she was asleep, but denied claims that he was on top of her or had forced his hand into her pants.

Furthermore,

The court ruled that both Westberg and the complainant were “credible,” but because of the unclear memories arising from the consumption of alcohol—enough to cause both to vomit before the incident—and the lack of other evidence, rape charges against Westberg were dismissed. The sexual assault charge was upheld in a 2019 conviction, however: The court ruled (via Google Translate) that the complainant had done nothing to give Westberg “reason to assume that the sleeping and drunk [complainant] was interested in some form of sexual action or closer intimacy with him,” and that his actions “violate[d] her sexual integrity.”

– PC Gamer

It was also discovered that Westberg had also been convicted of minor drug charges but that wasn’t addressed in his apology. In the Twitlonger, Westberg prefaced that unrelated to his action he was suffering from mental health issues at the time. He stated that he brought this up to help people understand that he had “turned towards several self-destructive behaviours”. He continued with stating that after case had concluded he moved he moved back in with his parents sought therapy.

From that he learned that he “had built up a poor understanding of boundaries so far in life.” He added he’s been reading stories from women in esports and using their experiences to reflect on his past actions, and that while he has not publicly acknowledged his actions prior to this, he has attempted to address them privately. The reception from the scene is mixed, with most pros disliking the fact that Westberg had not gone public with this information prior to the suspension as Westberg himself critercised other players facing misconduct charges.

Concluding the Twitlonger, Westberg stated that he’s going to take a step back from the competitive Hearthstone scene to re-evaluate and process everything that has occurred along with giving space to the community to heal.

“I’m gonna step away from the scene for some time and evaluate things. This is both for me being able to process all of this and also to give the people who are hurting from this some time to heal without being reminded of it by my presence.”

– Jon “Orange” Westberg