Method co-CEO and founder Scott “Sco” McMillan said today that he’ll “never forgive” himself for the way that he and his organization handled sexual misconduct allegations brought upon one of the guild’s healers, MethodJosh.
Josh was released by the team earlier this week after a teenage girl posted on Twitter claiming that he sexually harassed her three years ago when she was 16. But this wasn’t the first time that Josh’s alleged misconduct had been documented, creating a frenzied reaction by people in the gaming community.
In McMillan’s statement titled “We failed you, I failed you,” he detailed Method’s involvement with Josh through sexual harassment claims that date back to January 2019.
McMillan said he wasn’t looking to justify any actions by the organization. Instead, he was trying to breakdown how Method responded to instances involving Josh as an admittance of failure and inaction.
“I can only express from the bottom of my heart that Method, and I have failed you,” he wrote. “I will live with this for the rest of my life. Nothing below justifies mine or Method’s inactions, but I hope only to give clarity so the community can go forward with full knowledge and begin to heal.”
Even after Josh’s dismissal from Method, numerous women came forth to tell their stories of sexual harassment from Josh—and multiple accounts involved girls who were allegedly underage at the time.
As more information started to be presented, Method’s players, streamers, and affiliated personalities started to speak out one-by-one, saying they could no longer have a relationship with the organization because of its failure to act.
Explaining in detail where the organization failed, McMillan didn’t attempt to defend his brand at any step.
“With each allegation, including the investigation, we believed Josh when he said, adamantly, all allegations were false and the truth would come out,” he said. “He was able to convince management and the guild at the time that he was not guilty, which resulted in Method allowing him to remain in the guild while the investigation was undertaken. In truth we had our head in the sand. We believed Josh.”
With much of Method’s talent leaving the organization, McMillan supported the decisions of many, adding that the individuals leaving are “amongst the hardest workers in the industry.”
McMillan didn’t say what he or Method intend to do to recover from the mass exodus of talent in the past 24 hours. But he did say that he was going to start deliberating.
“Personally, I’ll be taking some time away to contemplate my future, as well as Method’s,” he said. “For fifteen years I’ve worked with Method’s guild, staff, talent, and the World of Warcraft community. It has been the most meaningful experience of my life. You trusted me, I let you down. I’ll never forgive myself.”
