IGN issues sexual assault statement after staff walkout

Entertainment media network IGN has released a statement addressing the sexual harassment scandal that enveloped it over the weekend.

Kallie Plagge spoke up last week concerning allegations of sexual abuse against former editor Vince Ingenito. Her allegations were detailed on Twitter and in an interview with Kotaku.

Ingenito issued a statement in response where he said that he “doesn’t believe Kallie is a liar” but then also defended his position.

This all resulted in IGN’s Alanah Pearce yesterday announcing that the network’s daily news show Daily Fix would not be airing because of a walkout from staff demanding the company acknowledge and apologise for the way it treated Plagge, who was forced to sign a letter admitting to a lack of professionalism. She described her treatment at the hands of IGN’s HR as “traumatic”, moreso than the events with Ingenito.

IGN is also said to have expressed understanding with the walkout, and did eventually bow to the pressure to make a statement.

“It is with great sadness, pain, and regret that we tell you that IGN has failed two of its female employees, one former and one current – both of whom the team cares deeply about. We are devastated that two of our own have had to live with and carry this pain for more than a year,” a statement credited simply to ‘the IGN team’ read.

“When the women made management and human resources aware of the situation involving a now-former employee, those women, in the estimation of the IGN team, did not get the respect and care that they deserved as IGN employees and as people. That system, plainly put, failed them. It especially failed them but it also failed all of us.

“Any future allegations will be taken extremely seriously, and we are actively working to ensure that everyone on our team feels like they work in a safe environment; we will not tolerate the exclusion or mistreatment of any people. The human resources representative who oversaw this situation originally is no longer with the company, and our current HR rep has been transparent and willing to listen to ideas and suggestions for how to create a better work environment going forward.

“We are aware of the influence that IGN has in the gaming and entertainment community, and we will utilize that to the best of our abilities going forward. And we will continue to challenge our management and human resources teams to fix what is broken, because if we can’t or if we don’t, then IGN will no longer be a place we’re proud to call home – as content creators, entertainment consumers, and as gamers.”