A few years ago, in the summer of 2020, we reported the news of Chris Avellone accused of harassment by several women who gravitate to the orbit of the video game industry. We now point out that a lawsuit related to these alleged misconducts has concluded with an out-of-court settlement in favor of Avellone himself.
In a statement released on the official blog by Chris Avellone, the latter lets it be known that the proceeding has been resolved without the possibility of appeal with a plea deal that he envisages the withdrawal of statements by two of the women who had accused him, as well as a six-figure monetary compensation for Avellone which also includes the lawyer’s fee (the exact figure has not been disclosed). The terms of the agreement have not been made public, and therefore remain covered by a confidentiality clause.
We report below the full statement shared by Karissa Barrows and Kelly Rae Bristol, the two women who had accused Avellone: “After involving Mr. Avellone we prepared the following statement: Avellone has never sexually abused us. We are not aware of any other women he abused. We are not aware that Avellone has ever misused corporate funds. We intend to withdraw everything we have written or said in the past about Avellone. We wanted to support women in the industry. In doing so, our words were misinterpreted to suggest allegations of misconduct that were neither explicit nor intentional. We care about the safety, security and actions of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, and any other community that feels oppressed in the gaming industry. We believe Avellone himself shares the desire to protect and uplift such communities. We believe he deserves to fully return to the industry and needs to be supported in these endeavors.”
This release was also followed up a statement by Chris Avellone: “I appreciate that Misses Barrows and Bristol have agreed to work with us to address these issues within the gaming community, their support is to be supported and commended. There are still many challenges ahead of us but I am sure we will be able to face them together. In the spirit of achieving this goal, I ask everyone to respect the privacy of Misses Barrows and Bristol and to use this opportunity to hear all voices to improve our environment and our communities.”
