Former IGN Writer Accuses Former Editor of Sexual Harassment

The accusation of Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment isn’t something we should really be talking about in a gaming website, but it seems the women who stepped up to him have caused a domino effect that’s causing women from all parts of every industry to start speaking out against their attackers. And recently, Kotaku reported that IGN has found itself embroiled in controversy, as one of their former editors, Vince Ingenito, was accused via tweet by two women who claim that not only did he sexually harass them, but IGN did nothing to remediate the issue when it was brought to light.

The story is long, so I would recommend you check out the full article on the IGN-based controversy for the whole skinny, but for the lazy, I’ll provide a brief recap:

The two women, Kallie Plagge and an unnamed co-worker, claim to have both been subject to uncomfortable sexual advances by Vince, whom they had previously both admired. While Kallie was hesitant to share details of these advances, she gave one example:

“‘When I was your age I could go all night.’ He put his hand on my arm. ‘I just want one more night like that.’”

A bit creepy, no doubt. But what really got her blood boiling was what happened next: when she and her co-worker reported the misconduct to IGN’s HR department, they put both women in an isolated conference room while they figured out what to do… and their chosen plan of action, turns out, was to have her sign a document saying that she had conducted herself “inappropriately."

So they accused her of harassment, not the guy doing the actual harassing.

She’s since moved on to work for GameSpot, but now that she’s coming forward with these accusations, IGN is sort of reeling. Two separate open letters were released to the public addressing the issue, and even Vice Ingenito responded, not denying the accusation but framing it as a giant misunderstanding. Which, fine, okay, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions on that: but we can all safely agree that IGN’s response was the wrong one.

As of right now, nothing concrete has happened in the wake of these accusations, but I’ll keep you all posted if the story develops.