Mathieu ‘Maniac’ Quiquerez, a Counter-Strike 2 caster and former player and coach, has been accused of sexual assault.
The accuser, Hannah Marie ZT, a freelance esports journalist and events manager for Play New Meta, claimed on social media that Maniac “groped, inappropriately touched, grinded on, and grabbed” her from behind even though she showed “clear discomfort and no reciprocation.”
Marie said the incident occurred at an afterparty after a Counter-Strike event and that she reported the assault to a “relevant company.” She said she did not disclose the company’s name in her post for “confidentiality reasons.”
The company in question allegedly upheld her accusations after an internal investigation, but did not provide Marie with a confirmation of its decision.
“After I asked for written confirmation of their investigation, one of their staff members accidentally looped me into an email where they admitted that they were planning on ignoring my continued pleas for written recognition of their investigation’s result,” she said in her statement.
Marie also claimed that the company that ran the investigation could not pass its findings on to broadcast teams “due to their own confidentiality agreements and policies.” She also claimed she “pulled” Maniac off of other women herself.
She said she posted the public accusal to warn others in the esports space about the caster and his alleged actions.
Maniac responded to the allegation on social media by saying he has “a drastically different recollection of the events,” in question.
“I do not believe any sexual assault took place. I believe inappropriate behavior is the only place this should start and end,” he said.
Maniac said that in response to the allegation, he will step down from the EPL broadcast.
The caster has worked as a full-time broadcast talent in Counter-Strike esports since 2019 for BLAST, PGL, and ESL.
He has appeared on CS Major events and most recently worked as an analyst on the Esports World Cup. Before broadcasting, Maniac played and coached for teams like Titan, Team EnVyUs, and Rogue.
Another woman, Daisy Powers, stepped forward and accused Maniac of assault at the event following his response. She claimed on social media that the caster “groped” her multiple times “in front of multiple esports colleagues.”
