Actual Evidence of Cosby Suit From the Lawsuit!

[Izzyfurious]

https://www.wowhead.com/news/more-de...gations-323596

Kotaku has published a detailed report on Alex Afrasiabi's "Cosby Suite" mentioned in the Activision Blizzard Lawsuit allegations, as pictures and chat messages from a 2013 group chat called the “Blizzcon Cosby Crew" have surfaced. This report, published Wednesday morning, comes alongside a walkout organized by Activision Blizzard employees in protest of the official handling of the discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit that the company is facing, and to call for an improvement in working conditions for employees, especially those from marginalized groups.

Full Kotaku Report


In this report, notable Blizzard employees are identified in the group chat and album pictures, such as Cory Stockton, Ghostcrawler, and Dave Kosak, as well as an HR representative. While many Blizzard employees have claimed they were unaware and shocked by "frat boy culture" allegations, this article paints a different picture of complicity.


The captions and comments are both written by and refer by name to other Blizzard employees, the pictures show. One ex-Blizzard source familiar with the people presented in the pictures identified an HR representative as one of the Blizzard employees present in the hotel room.

Another image from the same Facebook album shows a screenshot of a 2013 group chat called the “Blizzcon Cosby Crew.” In it, former Blizzard designer David Kosak writes, “I am gathering the hot chixx for the Coz.”

“Bring em,” replies Afrasiabi. “You can’t marry ALL of them Alex,” Kosak writes. “I can, I’m middle eastern,” responds Afrasiabi. Jesse McCree, currently a lead game designer at Blizzard, then writes, “You misspelled fuck.”

Cory Stockton, currently a lead game designer at Blizzard, and Greg Street, former Blizzard developer currently working on a new MMO at Riot Games, were also present in the chat. The chat was provided as a series of screenshots depicting a wide array of Facebook posts by Afrasiabi, all under a 2013 photo album. The album contained a picture exclusively dedicated to the amount of alcohol procured in “preparation” for the Cosby suite, according to the captions. The album showcases the large, framed Cosby photo from a variety of angles, held by a number of different people.

“Possibly the greatest group chat in the history of mankind,” Stockton wrote in a Facebook comment at the time, based on the screenshot.[...]

In one image procured by Kotaku, a group of women are sitting on a bed in the room with the Cosby portrait. One of the women appears to have a hand on another’s breast, which is cheered on by the men in the comments. The images procured by Kotaku, and two sources with knowledge of Afrasiabi’s alleged predatory behavior, Cosby’s reputation was apparently the point of why the group of men gathered around his picture in the photos.

“It was such a boys club that creating something like the ‘Cosby Suite’ was seen as funny,” one source told Kotaku. “Only you could get an efficy laid, Alex [Afrasiabi],” reads one of the Facebook comments on the picture. “#CozApproved,” reads another written by Kosak.

Some Blizzard employees identified in the picture: Alex Afrasiabi, Dave Kosak, Greg Street, Jesse McCree, Cory Stockton, Jonathan LeCraft


The Cosby Suite has also been referenced on social media, such as this tweet Ghostcrawler made in 2013 which was retweeted by Dave Kosak.

Greg Street@GhostcrawlerNov 10
There must always be a Cosby suite #takingOverFromKosak #absurdProclamations
ReplyRetweetFavorite


In the report, we also have an official statement from Blizzard to Kotaku on the Afrasiabi allegations, confirming he was terminated in 2020. However, Warcraft did not start removing Afrasiabi NPCs until yesterday.
Blizzard
“An employee brought these 2013 events to our attention in June 2020,” a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told Kotaku when asked about the “Cosby Suite” images and allegations against Afrasiabi. “We immediately conducted our own investigation and took corrective action. At the time of the report, we had already conducted a separate investigation of Alex Afrasiabi and terminated him for his misconduct in his treatment of other employees.
Here is the original brief about Afrasiabi from the Blizzard Lawsuit:
47. In a blatant example of Defendant's refusal to deal with a harasser because of his seniority/position, Alex Afrasiabi, the former Senior Creative Director of World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment, was permitted to engage in blatant sexual harassment with little to no repercussions. During a company event (an annual convention called BlizzCon) Afrasiabi would hit on female employees, telling him he wanted to marry them, attempting to kiss them, and putting his arms around them. This was in plain view of other male employees, including supervisors, who had to intervene and pull him off female employees. Afrasiabi was so known to engage in harassment of females that his suite was nicknamed the "Cosby Suite" after alleged rapist Bill Cosby. Afrasiabi would also call females derogatory names at company events. Afrasiabi's conduct was known to Blizzard Entertainment's executives, who took no effective remedial measures. J. Allen Brack, President of Blizzard Entertainment, allegedly had multiple conversations with Afrasiabi about his drinking and that he had been "too friendly" towards female employees at company events but gave Afrasiabi a slap on the wrist (ie verbal counseling) in response to these incidents. Subsequently, Afrasiabi continued to make unwanted advances towards female employees, including grabbing a female employee's hand and inviting her to his hotel room and groping another women.





Credits for finding this to Metta World Peace.



Holy ********* s*** man idk what to even say to this anymore!

https://twitter.com/Ghostcrawler/sta...86868547977216

Image to the actual Tweet below.

Also.

**** YOU GC! OMFG i used to have so much respect for you but now all that is gone forever!

[uuuhname]

oh wow, look at that, Greg Street. curious.

[Kralljin]

GC's head will likely roll, Riot had a problem with sexual harassment and now he drags them into a mire they just recently escaped.

[Big Thanks]

Greg was working on Riot's MMO...oof...tomorrow's workday is gonna be awkward.

[Dracullus]

GC's head will likely roll, Riot had a problem with sexual harassment and now he drags them into a mire they just recently escaped.

I think we can say it about every single man on this picture. It will go viral.

[Izzyfurious]

I think we can say it about every single man on this picture. It will go viral.

Some of those people in that Picture still works at blizz. They have to be absolutely Terminated!

[Venziir]

So much for J Bracks "anti-bro culture"-statement.

[Metta World Peace]

“An employee brought these 2013 events to our attention in June 2020,” a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told Kotaku when asked about the “Cosby Suite” images and allegations against Afrasiabi. “We immediately conducted our own investigation and took corrective action. At the time of the report, we had already conducted a separate investigation of Alex Afrasiabi and terminated him for his misconduct in his treatment of other employees.”

Only thing positive out of this new mess is that Afrasiabi did indeed get fired for sexual harassment.

[Jastall]

Fuck. I thought the "Cosby suite" was some sort of unofficial name for Afriasabi's office or something, not something he and his mates actually made up and were proud of.

Every new information about this makes the situation seem even worse.

[Triceron]

Can anyone post the tweet? Not sure if it got removed/deleted or what.

Also, can't wait to see how the 'waiting for evidence' crew come out and defend against this shit.

[Gurahk]

So much for J Bracks "anti-bro culture"-statement.

This took place under 2013, about 5 years before Brack assumed leadership.

[Jester Joe]

Fuck. I thought the "Cosby suite" was some sort of unofficial name for Afriasabi's office or something, not something he and his mates actually made up and were proud of.

Every new information about this makes the situation seem even worse.

The claim was it was named after how awful his sweaters were.
Somewhat believable considering this was before the accusations against Cosby really took off, but still not the best look at all with hindsight

[Venziir]

Can anyone post the tweet? Not sure if it got removed/deleted or what.

Also, can't wait to see how the 'waiting for evidence' crew come out and defend against this shit.

The tweet is GC tweeting "There most always be a Cosby suite" back in '13.

[arkanon]

I think the most interesting part of all this is watching each public figure claim they "knew nothing about it" and "always tried to be part of the solution" only to have images like this surface, at which point they will magically do a 180, apologize, say "I must and will do better" and then move on with their life.

[Venziir]

This took place under 2013, about 5 years before Brack assumed leadership.

He started at Blizzard in '05 though. He knew everything.

[Video Games]

Lmfao. Imagine leaving evidence this incriminating

[arkanon]

The claim was it was named after how awful his sweaters were.
Somewhat believable considering this was before the accusations against Cosby really took off, but still not the best look at all with hindsight

You are correct, however the accusations against Cosby were well known among many circles within the entertainment sphere since the 90s, it wasn't even really a secret. But, like I said, you are correct that it was later on that the media finally started reporting on it and the law actually got involved.

More damning than that though is the conversation tied with the pics - no one is wearing a silly sweater, no mention of the sweater, but plenty of chatter about sex and females.

[oldgeezer]

Lessons will be learned, possibly some very rich people will be resigned/retired, the lawyers will complete their boat payments, and the world will continue to turn.

[Randris]

The claim was it was named after how awful his sweaters were.
Somewhat believable considering this was before the accusations against Cosby really took off, but still not the best look at all with hindsight

Yeah, the chain of events that led to him going to jail started in November 2014, though there was a case against him that was settled out of court in 2006. We don't know when the "Cosby Suite" started either. Regardless, it's a really bad look in retrospect.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment...ry?id=47799458

[Big Thanks]

GC posted a response defending himself from that Q&A video that was being passed around...i think yesterday?

https://www.mmo-champion.com/content...ses-to-Lawsuit

big oof
He even ended his tweet with "GC out"

GC "out" indeed