College Station Smash (CSTAT Smash) has removed the ban on a Jewish-American E-Sports player and apologized for spreading false claims about him. This comes after the National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC) sued CSTAT Smash under the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 (contracts) and 1964 (places of exhibition/entertainment).
CSTAT Smash is the official channel for the College Station Smash Bros community. It hosts tournaments every week during the school semester.
Since late 2023, globally ranked E-Sports player and professional "Super Smash Bros" gamer Felix Hasson ("T_Pot") was subjected to the spread of defamatory statements aiming to paint him as a dangerous individual regarding his beliefs as a Zionist Jew, the statement by CSTAT read.
He was banned from three tournaments and two Discord servers dedicated to the popular Nintendo fighting game, after anti-Israel players were angered by a series of social media posts by Hasson in which he supported the IDF, Israel, and a response to the October 7 massacre.
CSTAT now said that tournaments in the Houston area of Texas "mistakenly" decided to ban Hasson based on "defamation," but that it now admits that the bans in both Houston and Bryan-College Station areas were not justified.
"The tournament organizers of College Station Smash Ultimate now have a more complete picture of what T_Pot said and what he did not say, including the false rumors that he promoted violence," the statement continued.
"We at College Station Smash Ultimate have determined that T_Pot is unconditionally welcome at our tournaments and have lifted his ban."
The organization also said that anyone who continues to defame Hasson or attempts to prevent his participation in events will be met with disciplinary action.
CSTAT Smash 'supports Israel'
CSTAT Smash ended by saying that it "supports Israel's right to defend itself and celebrates the return of the October 7 hostages."
Hasson was also banned from Waypoint Cafe in NYC in December 2023.
At the time, Waypoint said, "T_pot was banned from Waypoint for the incitement of hate and violence, not because he is Jewish."
It said T_pot made tweets laughing at the deaths of civilians, which concerned multiple members of the community and the staff, resulting in his ban.
Hasson told Combat Antisemitism Movement that, “Everyone in the Smash community knows I’m Jewish, I don’t keep it a secret. I’m very proud about my identity, and very open about it. I’m also very open about my support for Israel. I lived there, I support its right to exist and everything it stands for as a landmark of democracy in the Middle East. And being called out for what I would say were pretty innocuous tweets, and being slandered online as a ‘racist Zionist weasel’ and ‘genocide enthusiast,’ it doesn’t feel so good, to say the least.”
“Anyone who has ever met me at a tournament or even just talked with me a little bit online knows I would never do harm to anyone,” he added. “And it just really hurts to see people jump to all these conclusions and immediately ban me.”