Call of Duty Pros Defend Commentator Who Was Kink Shamed

On Sunday night, Call of Duty commentator Jack Campbell announced his departure from the esports scene and his plan to deactivate his Twitter account. Campbell’s love life has become a topic de rigeur for Call of Duty fans in the past month, in spite of Campbell’s attempts to stave off fans’ speculation. The situation came to a head this past weekend when a woman close to Campbell revealed screenshots of private conversations that implied the Call of Duty commentator has a foot fetish.

The English 20-year-old’s star has been rising in esports this year; he got tapped to commentate for the English-speaking broadcasts of CWL Paris and CWL Birmingham. Last night, however, he claimed to bid farewell to his CoD career in a Twitter video, in which he referred to the screencaps by saying:

“There’s probably so many people that are tweeting and laughing right now that have more fucked up fetishes than I do. You know what? Nobody’s perfect…I’m not perfect.”

He went on to describe how the scrutiny on his private life and the comments made about him have led him to withdraw from his burgeoning career in esports:

“This has now affected my personal life, my family, and me personally. And that’s a no from me. That’s where it stops… It’s too much for me now, and it’s to the point of bullying.”

Other prominent members of the Call of Duty scene have stepped up to encourage Campbell to reconsider his departure and to speak out against bullying.

Pro Call of Duty player Matthew “Skrapz” Marshall recorded a video response of his own, in which he said,

“I’ve got a dodgy fetish, let me tell you that for something, and it’s worse than yours….Ignore ‘em. Don’t even react to it…Don’t be disappearing. You’re a sound bloke!”

Skrapz then uploaded a second video in which he described his supposed “dodgy fetish”: “Fuck this. I’m laying it all out. I love it when a bird ties you up, sits on your head, and farts.” He then bursts out laughing.

Whether Scrapz’s video response was a joke or not, it inspired several other Call of Duty pros to come out with their own fetishes in an effort to dilute Campbell’s embarrassment and encourage their peer to return to esports. CoD pro Rory “Rez” Hunter made a video in which he confessed his crush on Scrapz, then offered his advice to Campbell: “Go to the pub, have a pint, wait for it all to blow over.” Retired Call of Duty pro Philip “Momo” Whitfield joked that his fetish is foursomes, then he followed that up with a supportive tweet for Campbell: “im not saying everything you have done is perfect and im sure youll agree with that however im against bullying and personal abuse period.”

We’ve reached out to Campbell for comment and will update if we hear back.