Response to recent allegations

HenryG - 23/06/2020

I want to address recent allegations made by my ex-girlfriend, Kelly Jean. Kelly and I were in a long-term relationship for nearly two years, which was emotionally charged and, we both later realised, toxic and destructive. While I deeply regret things I said during our relationship, I have never sexually or physically abused Kelly or anyone else. I cannot speak for her, but I must be clear that her description of the events of New Year's Eve are simply not accurate or true.

On that New Year’s Eve Kelly came to meet me after we had both been with separate social groups for some part of the evening. She came to my house and asked to smoke some weed with me. I was already high but had a much stronger tolerance and so was reluctant for her to take any as I know it doesn’t always agree with her. After she smoked some, she initiated sex. Part way through said she was feeling too unwell to continue and so we stopped. We then both spent the night awake, her feeling unwell and me to keep an eye on her.

In the following weeks she never mentioned anything to me about this night and we continued our on/off relationship. Soon I had come to realise the relationship had no future - Kelly and I would argue often - and I explained that we should end things. I will openly admit to being guilty of being a poor boyfriend, especially during my heavy travel and work schedule.

As we started to separate, New Year’s Eve became a focal incident in her mind. Her complaints were that I didn’t take care of her, that I had been more interested in the prospect of sex than taking care of her while she was intoxicated, and that I was being selfish. I can understand why the situation may have scared her, because she didn’t feel like she was in control or safe, even though I would never hurt her. I apologised to her for the evening, as you can see from the Discord log(s) she has already made public and, as these WhatsApp messages will show you, she acknowledged nothing untoward had taken place:

I was aware that Kelly has suffered trauma related to incidents from a previous relationship as we were very open during our time together. Therefore, it is absolutely understandable that she may have experienced trauma in connection with the events of New Year's Eve. However, what happened between us was consensual, and ended when she decided she did not want to continue. Kelly has acknowledged this directly in conversation, and in messages between us, some of which I am choosing to share given the seriousness of these allegations:

Despite our relationship ending, and despite my insistence that she no longer come to my home, she continued to attempt to visit me there.

On May 28th 2020, Kelly turned up uninvited to my home in London. She attempted to force herself into my property because she wanted to talk about our relationship, despite it officially ending in August 2018, and anything happening afterwards being on a mutually agreed casual basis. She told me there was a man waiting downstairs in case anything happened, even though the interaction was unexpected and initiated by her arrival. I had no idea who it was, or what they were planning to do, so I had some choice language for him. I believe this is the friend she refers to me "threatening" in her Twitlonger dated 21/06/2020:

As Kelly was clearly in distress, my current partner and I eventually decided to defuse the situation by having a group conversation at my home. We discussed details Kelly has shared in her own statement, but no allegations of assault were made. It was a difficult but necessary conversation, and I came away with a deeper understanding of the mistakes we had made as a couple, and the ones I had made personally. Afterwards, I felt that we had both resolved to move forward with separate lives.

Unfortunately, despite coming to an agreement on that evening and ending contact, Kelly has continued to persistently contact my partner, family, colleagues and creating multiple social media accounts to try and engage me in communication. Alarmingly, Kelly has tweeted this week that she would not have published her allegations against me had I not blocked her on social media:

In the past two years, I have lived under the threat of Kelly divulging details - whether true or not - of our relationship. As previously mentioned, I was not able to be the perfect partner during our time together, but I was not an abusive one.

I want to make it clear that I absolutely stand in support with women who have shared their horrific experiences of sexual harassment and abuse both within and outside of the gaming industry. Out of both respect and privacy, I won't be commenting further on this matter. Instead, I will now place my trust in the community I’ve been a part of all my life to recognise the truth for what it is. I hope I will still continue to be part of it.

• HenryG