On the morning of Friday, November 8th, Splyce Support Tore "Norskeren" Hoel Eilertset issued a public apology on twitter after video footage surface of him using a notorious abbreviation for a racial slur. While the exchange was in jest with teammate and duo partner Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup, Norskeren made it clear he understood the impact of his usage of the word, calling it 'completely inappropriate'.

Splyce issued a statement shortly after in a reply to a report by Dexerto. Paulo Senra, VP of Global Content and PR, OAM at Splyce owner Overactive Media, said this on behalf of its LEC franchise: 

"We’ve taken actions right away on this matter. We deleted the video once we were made aware of the situation. We also immediately got on a call with our player to discuss the matter and its impact. He acknowledged his mistake and has publicly apologized for it. This in no way reflects our teams, players or our organization. We at OAM will continue to focus on creating an environment that is inclusive, equitable and respectful."

The Divide

Despite both Norskeren and Splyce agreeing that the former's conduct was completely out of line, the League of Legends community discourse continues to split down the middle on the issue even nearly two days after the controversy came to light.  

Many members of the League of Legends community took to both twitter and reddit to voice their displeasure towards the backlash towards Norskeren. A common counter-argument surfacing is that because the context was good-natured, the intention does not reflect or imply racism or prejudice. Other common rebuttals along the lines of not taking words too seriously on the internet and the like have permeated discussions across the web as well.

However, that doesn't mean everyone else is necessarily satisfied with Norskeren and Splyce's response. The swift response, acknowledgement of the mistake and admittance of guilt is eclipsed for some by the possibility of the apology being made inauthentically in the name of good PR. 

Riot Games has yet to make any type of statement regarding Norskeren, Splyce, or the situation and its surrounding dialogue, but any formal action would probably take place after the 2019 World Championship, which concludes with the Grand Finals in Paris, France on Sunday, November 10th at 1:00pm local time.