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CharlieIntel: Activision cuts ties with voice actor Jeff Leach (Ghost in 2019's Modern Warfare) after sexist comments resurface

poklane

poklane

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,933
the Netherlands
Source and full article: https://charlieintel.com/activision...-ghost-after-sexist-comments-resurface/99827/
Activision has cut all ties with Jeff Leach, the voice actor behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Ghost Operator, after sexist comments made by Leach resurfaced on social media.

Jeff Leach was the voice actor behind the Ghost character in Modern Warfare 2019 and Warzone. The entire original Modern Warfare cast was re-casted for the 2019 reboot, and Leach voiced Ghost when the character was added as an operator.

The news of Activision ending their working relationship with Leach comes as sexist comments made by Jeff Leach have resurfaced after streamers and community members were questioning why Leach was still partnered with industry companies.

A Twitter thread posted reveals some of the sexist comments Leach made about streamer ZombiUnicorn, and asked why he still has partners. Leach has been streaming on Facebook Gaming as an official partner in 2020.

Clip. WARNING: Strong language and derogatory remarks about women
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In a new statement sent to CharlieIntel on May 8th, Activision says they have ended all working relationships with Jeff Leach and "condemn" all of his remarks.

"Sexism has no place in our industry, our games or in society," Activision says in a new statement. "Activision is no longer working with Jeff Leach. We strongly condemn these remarks. We are committed to delivering a fun and safe experience for all players."
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Good to see Activision giving him the boot after these clips resurfaced.
 
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GameAddict411

GameAddict411

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,521
ok, that twitch clip was way WORSE then I thought. He was not only sexist, he was just very mean and gross. It seems a sprinkle of fame for some people is enough to make them look down on people. Like he needs to fucking grow up.
 
Foffy

Foffy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,391
Man, the YouTube video in the second part of the thread is from over three years ago. Sounds like this didn't merely resurface but just peak enough for attention.
 
Neoxon

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
85,382
Houston, TX
Dear god, he's a piece of shit. Glad ActiBlizz kicked him the fuck out.
 
Pyro

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
United States
Gamer moment ™️ #1,926. Crazy how at this point companies don't have a morality clause or something in their contracts because this keeps happening with VO actors, Devs, etc. Also don't applaud ActiBlizz for a second because of this one good firing:

www.kotaku.com.au

Activision Blizzard Hires Bush-Era Torture Apologist As Chief Compliance Officer

Activision Blizzard announced yesterday that Frances F. Townsend, a former George W. Bush-era counterterrorism appointee and torture apologist, would become its new head of compliance, in charge of making sure the company doesn’t run afoul of the varying laws and regulations throughout all of...
www.kotaku.com.au www.kotaku.com.au
 
Neoxon

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
85,382
Houston, TX
Pyro said:
Gamer moment ™️ #1,926. Crazy how at this point companies don't have a morality clause or something in their contracts because this keeps happening with VO actors, Devs, etc. Also don't applaud ActiBlizz for a second because of this one good firing:

www.kotaku.com.au

Activision Blizzard Hires Bush-Era Torture Apologist As Chief Compliance Officer

Activision Blizzard announced yesterday that Frances F. Townsend, a former George W. Bush-era counterterrorism appointee and torture apologist, would become its new head of compliance, in charge of making sure the company doesn’t run afoul of the varying laws and regulations throughout all of...
www.kotaku.com.au www.kotaku.com.au
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Firing Jeff is a good call. But as you said, ActiBlizz is still responsible for a ton of problematic shit themselves.
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,143
GameAddict411 said:
ok, that twitch clip was way WORSE then I thought. He was not only sexist, he was just very mean and gross. It seems a sprinkle of fame for some people is enough to make them look down on people. Like he needs to fucking grow up.
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I am mad at the host, he was like "stop fooling around" that is how these folks get a pass
 
jediyoshi

jediyoshi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,126
Wow these aren't even one offs, he really just goes off in the middle of his own stream like he's proud of being a piece of shit
 
sibarraz

sibarraz

Prophet of Regret - One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
18,112
Fuck, I just bought a cod warzone ghost pack some minutes ago, hope that they change his voice
 
KDC720

KDC720

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,329
Get the old actor from the pre-reboot games to come back. Ghost's face is hidden so it's not like he has to be be modeled after the actor playing him like the other characters.
 
Twister

Twister

Member
Feb 11, 2019
5,083
Don't understand how anyone in the replies is defending this, or why anyone would watch someone like this stream. What entertainment value is there in watching someone be a dick? Just gross
 
Calvin

Calvin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,583
That's a great step - would have been nice if they could have addressed how the literal face of the initial Warzone launch and season is a right-wing conspiracy theorist, Covid-denying, nut job gun fetishist who supported the January 6th insurrection on her Twitter page until a bunch of people started CCing Activision to the comments and she mass deleted everything.

It's Activision though, so probably best not to expect too much.
 
JigglesBunny

JigglesBunny

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
31,135
Chicago
matrixman92 said:
Unbelievable at how many people are defending him in the replies to their tweet
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Is it, though? A certain demographic love this kind of shit and think its part of the fun of online games. They see nothing wrong with his comments, and their "fuck cancel culture" stance only makes them even more defensive of criticism and supportive of this horse shit. There are loads of scumbags like this.

In any event, glad the asshole lost his gig.
 
Strikerrr

Strikerrr

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,107
I hope they bring back Ghost's original VA, Craig Fairbrass.

He's played a British Operator (Gaz, Ghost, Wallcroft, Tee)/MP announcer in all the IW COD games since CoD4, including Infinite Warfare.

I thought it was a missed oppurtunity not to bring him back to voice a character/announcer for MW 2019.

Ironically, he did play one of the British SAS characters in the Battlefield V campaign.
 
TheBiInBilingual

TheBiInBilingual

THE STORE ENSURED ME THERE WOULDN'T BE FILM
Member
Feb 22, 2018
2,797
JusDoIt said:
Nobody would even be sorry to see Ratchet's weak ass actor go. Everybody is Team Rivet now anyways. They been needed to fire homeboy.
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Not meant to derail but why does everything needs to be 'teams' nowadays. Can't they just coexist like Peter Parker/Miles Morales f.e.
 
Xater

Xater

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,907
Germany
Based on that clip, that is absolutely the right decision.

Hopefully they will bring back the old voice actor.
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,192
UK
If Activision can do this, then surely videogame studios can drop Reuben Langdon for similarly bigoted statements, and not just stop using him as a voice actor but also his mocap studios.
 
Triggerhappytel

Triggerhappytel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,053
Wow, he seems like a huge sexist unpleasant piece of shit. Good fucking riddance.

Time to give Craig Fairbrass a call again?
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,505
Messofanego said:
If Activision can do this, then surely videogame studios can drop Reuben Langdon for similarly bigoted statements, and not just stop using him as a voice actor but also his mocap studios.
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Situation is a bit different,
RL is the iconic voice and does mocap for a million Capcom things.
This guy was an awful voice replacement for a popular character that wasn't extremely favorable.
 
SinkFla

SinkFla

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,446
Pensacola, Fl
boris_feinbrand said:
Age is in no way related to maturity, morals or intelligence.
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Lol. I don't know why I felt compelled to elaborate so much but I wanted to clarify what I thought was an innocuous statement. Spoilered for everyone's consideration.

From the perspective of a 34 year old step parent myself, I can't help but acknowledge that this guy sounds like an infantile shithead (not unlike the hateful bullies I'd seen my stepson have to combat, and no not literal combat). But I think it's universally accepted that an adult has a much, much higher capacity to learn and evolve than a fucking baby. Hence why an adult "should know better" has applications for a lot of situations lol.

Point is that this is a grown man who has had many years to have had his behavior observed and critiqued with opportunity to correct, the potential to actually engage in meaningful conversations with people different from him and learn something profound, construct or attain some level of empathy and possibly contribute something positive to the world; Instead like a teflon turd he's deflected any and all wisdom, and went straight for the throne of a mountain dew and Doritos shitlord on coronation day.

Generally speaking, I understand and agree with your comment and it's a well intentioned one. However, if you think your average child has equitable life experience, room or even the need for improvement to begin with to that of a grown ass man then well... I don't know what to tell you lol. There's no excuse for this behavior period, but if these were the words of a child then I would probably associate the behavior more with bad parenting and the influence of a problematic, ignorant environment (easy feat made even easier in a post Trump world) and that there's hope yet in them growing up and becoming a better person with guidance. This guy has grown into the POS before us in nearly 4 decades so I don't expect any remorse or rehabilitation from him, just a half assed apology that'll soon arrive in a desperate attempt to save face. If anything, this just means people of all ages in abundance are generally far better than this dude.

TLDR my statement was not a generalized declaration that there is a standardized correlation between age and character, just that this guy is a toxic manchild and should know better.
 
Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
3,849
Michigan
This guy has been on plenty of podcasts I've listened to over the years. He was incredibly sanctimonious and aggressive like this towards people for racism, sexist comments, etc., with a heaping dose of cringey edge. Hypocrite.
 
Grenchel

Grenchel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,298
I am 35 and I can't imagine talking like that in public, let alone privately to anyone.
 
Kinthey

Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,328
Strikerrr said:
I hope they bring back Ghost's original VA, Craig Fairbrass.

He's played a British Operator (Gaz, Ghost, Wallcroft, Tee)/MP announcer in all the IW COD games since CoD4, including Infinite Warfare.

I thought it was a missed oppurtunity not to bring him back to voice a character/announcer for MW 2019.

Ironically, he did play one of the British SAS characters in the Battlefield V campaign.
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Recasting Ghost was strange to me to begin with. Without Craig it's just some guy in a skull mask.
 
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