There has been no shortage of controversy in the video game industry as of late. From brutal developer crunch to allegations of sexual harassment, depressing news has been relentless. Now Rooster Teeth, the digital media company behind the iconic Halo-inspired web series Red vs. Blue, has found itself at the centre of a new controversy.
Kdin Jenzen, a transgender woman and ex-employee of Rooster Teeth, has alleged that the company subjected her to years of harassment. This included homophobic slurs, unpaid wages, and exhaustingly long working days.
Twitter has been set ablaze with industry figures and fans weighing in on the controversy. Many are disappointed and some are completely unsurprised.
One thing that didn’t help Rooster Teeth’s case was their lengthy response that only enflamed the situation. In the statement, they claimed: “Many individuals at Rooster Teeth acknowledged personal responsibility for their actions”. However, it didn’t include an actual apology.
So, what are the details of this new Rooster Teeth controversy?
What is Rooster Teeth?
Rooster Teeth is a digital media company based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman.
The company’s first project was the long-running and hugely popular web series Red vs. Blue.
Since then, the company has branched out into Let’s Plays, video game production, podcasts, entertainment news, feature films, and more.
As of October 2022, Rooster Teeth’s main YouTube channel has 9.18 million subscribers and over 6 billion video views.
Rooster Teeth Controversy Explained
Rooster Teeth, which has now been in existence for almost two decades, reportedly had 419 employees as of July 2019.
Between 2013 and 2022, Kdin Jenzen was one of those employees. However, since coming forward with allegations of abuse, she has found herself at the heart of the new Rooster Teeth controversy.
Jenzen’s allegations centre on claims of homophobia and a toxic work culture.
After spending years hoping the culture would change, she decided to leave the company and that “it’s time for me to finally say something about Rooster Teeth.”
Posting on TwitLonger, Jenzen wrote a detailed account of her time at Rooster Teeth and explained her perspective of what went on there.
For all the details on Jenzen’s allegations, I’d encourage you to read her original post. Please be aware, the content may be upsetting.
In a TL;DR, she summarised:
– Feb 2013 – Nov 2013. Unpaid Contract Work
– Fugz = F*gg*t, reported to HR nothing was done
– 2013 Christmas “Bonus” $100. Long time members disapproved of said bonus
– 14hr work days, rush orders for same or next day videos
– “Any time I brought up mistreatment or that “making fun of people in content only encourages the community to hate us” – I was waved away saying “IT’S JUST A JOKE! Ignore the comments!””
RT crunch caused pneumonia, no recovery period on return
– Crunched harder, physically isolated “people even IN the company forgot I worked”
– RT never fulfilled their deals promotion deals
– 15 hr work days
– 2016 came out as Trans, Transphobia harassment started
– Acting Manager lied to the community and harassed me, HR did nothing and enabled harassment
– Founding Fathers knew and did nothing. Said “too nice to work at Rooster Teeth” and “just quit and find somewhere else to work”
– RT did not properly support medical insurance coverage
– End 2020 Position Producer/Director, paid $40k. Next lowest paid person was $70k.
– 2019, forced to move to LA or get laid off. RT never paid moving costs. COVID forced remote jobs thus SAVING my job
– RT INCREASES crunch during COVID
– 2021 Anniversary Stream Event. Had LIFE SAVING surgery, majority work stolen by coworker and blamed production failures on me during MEDICAL LEAVE.
– BRG created to help with representation issues, mid 2021 RT said “we’ve done enough for the queer community” PRIDE stream events still mostly Cis/Het talents
– Mistreatment of minorities in RT ignored ““the company is going through a lot right now just leave it alone”
– Unpaid for VO work during tenure at RT, May Marigold and RWBY Fairy Tales included.
Kdin Jenzen.
In conclusion, she wrote, “Handful of good people. Bad Company.”
Are you a long-time fan of Rooster Teeth? What do you make of the allegations and controversy? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…
