Nintendo has made the decision to fire employee Alison Rapp after a targeted harassment campaign against the product marketing specialist, though the gaming company has denied that this is the reasoning behind their decision.
Rapp found herself erroneously placed in the center of the controversy surrounding Nintendo’s localization branch, Treehouse, in regards to their work on games such as Fire Emblem Fates and Xenoblade Chronicles X. One of Treehouse’s roles as Nintendo’s product development division is to translate and alter games for a Western audience, though in recent months the company has faced plenty of criticism from supporters of GamerGate, as a result of making various changes that were viewed as “censorship” by the online movement. These changes included removing a slider that allowed players to change the size of their female characters’ breasts in Xenoblade Chronicles X, along with removing a costume option in the game that allowed players to dress 13-year-old character Lin in a skimpy bikini.
While Rapp wasn’t directly responsible for these alterations given that she works in PR, her outspokenness on Twitter – not to mention her identifying as a feminist, a big no-no for GamerGate unless you’re conservative think tank feminist Christina Hoff Sommers – led to her facing the brunt of the criticisms, which quickly escalated into GamerGate members digging up dirt on her. Rapp tweeted the sequence of events that, in her words, led to her being fired:
The smear campaign launched against Rapp largely revolved around a thesis she had written in 2011 titled “Speech We Hate: An Argument for the Cessation of International Pressure on Japan to Strengthen Its Anti-Child Pornography Laws,” which argued against Western pressure against Japan to change its child porn laws. As outlined in a detailed rundown of the essay by Patrick Klepek, Rapp wasn’t advocating for the abuse of children, which was what her detractors claimed, with the thesis instead exploring the cultural divide between Japan and the West in regards to sexualization, supporting Japan’s right to uphold its own boundaries in this regard.
The thesis, while undoubtedly divisive, was in no way the pro-pedophilia diatribe it was accused of being by those looking to sully Rapp’s relationship with her employer, but regardless those targeting her contacted Nintendo in their droves, with multiple tweets and posts on pro-GamerGate sites encouraging others to do the same. Despite this onslaught of threats and harassment, Nintendo failed to support Rapp during this time period, with this debacle now concluding with the termination of Rapp’s contract with the company.
However, Nintendo insists that Rapp was fired not due to the lobbying for her removal from the company, but rather because she was working a second job. A statement from the company reads:
“Alison Rapp was terminated due to violation of an internal company policy involving holding a second job in conflict with Nintendo’s corporate culture. Though Ms. Rapp’s termination follows her being the subject of criticism from certain groups via social media several weeks ago, the two are absolutely not related. Nintendo is a company committed to fostering inclusion and diversity in both our company and the broader video game industry and we firmly reject the harassment of individuals based on gender, race or personal beliefs. We wish Ms. Rapp well in her future endeavors.”
Rapp refuted these claims in another series of tweets, writing:
Nintendo’s decision to fire Rapp has received a largely negative reaction, with many criticizing the company for not defending their employee against the waves of harassment she received, and for seemingly caving into the pressure applied by those urging Nintendo to fire her. While Nintendo’s statement is at odds with Rapp’s claims, it’s hugely coincidental that they have opted to terminate her contract during this controversy.
It’s understandable that as a kid-friendly company Nintendo would want to disassociate themselves from allegations of employing a pedophile, but if they did decide to fire her as a result of the accusations wrongly leveled at her, then that sends out an alarming message that orchestrated smear campaigns against their employees actually work.
