Sinatraa Issues Statement Following Riot Suspension from Competitive Valorant
Earlier today, Jay “Sinatraa” Won was suspended for six months from competitive Valorant in a new ruling from Riot Games. The ruling cited section 8.1 of Riot’s Global Competition Policy as they announced that Sinatraa was not cooperating fully with their independent investigation into the sexual assault claims levied against the pro. Needless to say, the wording had many wondering just what Sinatraa had been holding back and why, however a new statement from Sinatraa in response to Riot’s ruling may hold the answers.
Update: Cleo has now made her own statement in response to Sinatraa.
A Concise Response
Shortly after Riot announced their ruling, Sinatraa issued a statement via Twitlonger discussing the investigation and his attempts to better himself in the wake of the initial accusations. He claims to have reflected extensively and to understand the emotional pain he caused his former girlfriend Cleo.
In his response, Sinatraa also claims that the only reason he was unable to fully comply with Riot’s investigation was that he was missing a crucial piece of video evidence. He alleges that Cleo had asked him to delete the footage after the end of the relationship and that he honored her wishes. Unfortunately, according to Sinatraa, he initially told investigators that he would be able to provide the footage under the assumption that the footage would be shared considering its importance to the investigation. This would leave him on the hook for providing footage he no longer has access to and theoretically explains Riot’s competitive ruling.
Sinatraa’s Statement
I’ve spent the last 2 months reflecting on how I can be better as a person. I’ve been a pro player for basically all of my adult life and still have a lot to improve on. I’ve been reflecting a ton during the downtime and know how much I hurt Cleo emotionally and I’m truly sorry about it. I will learn from my mistakes and keep on trying to improve myself as a person.
Regarding riots investigation statement
I want to preface this by saying I do not have the video/audio that she used in her statement. After our relationship ended she had asked me to delete the video and I honored that. I’ve never even imagined a situation like this so when it all happened I didn’t know whether to just spill out my side or not. I had no clue what to do so I seeked legal help immediately. As we were drafting up an update with the legal PR team we had added that I would provide the video because we genuinely thought that the video would have to be shared in full since it’s a key part in the investigation. However that did not happen and I should not have promised something I could not personally deliver. This entire experience has been humbling and an opportunity for me to come out the other side a better person.
I now have an additional 4 months away from competitive play to spend time trying to develop a better set of interpersonal skills and to earn back the trust of this community. Again, I am truly sorry to everyone I let down or hurt.
Clarification or Cover-Up?
Cleo encouraged Sinatraa to share that full audio and video clip with Riot for the investigation
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) May 17, 2021
Jay claims she had him delete it at the end of their relationship
So does either side have the full clip of the most condemning piece of evidence? Things aren’t adding up
This is yet another layer to an already intricate story. As our own Jake Lucky noted, Cleo claims that she encouraged Sinatraa to share the aforementioned video evidence with Riot, yet Sinatraa claims that Cleo had her delete the clip after they separated. As with many other elements of this story thus far, it’s a case of he said she said without evidence available to the public to prove otherwise.
It’s also worth noting that the wording of Sinatraa’s response to the Riot investigation implies that the video clip was the only area in which he was noncompliant, yet we do not have and are unlikely to receive confirmation from Riot that this is indeed the case.
Sinatraa has denied the allegations and by all rights seems optimistic about an eventual return to Valorant.
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