CSGOEmpire hurls racist abuse at NA community member after altercation with white supremacist

CSGOEmpire, an under-regulated and dubiously licensed betting and skins site, has used a racial slur against Melan1n, an African-American member of the NA CS community, following his publication of an altercation with attested white supremacist and alt-right figure Paul "GypsyCrusader" Nicholas Miller on X.

This isn't the first time that CSGOEmpire find themselves in the middle of a controversy. The betting site is infamously known for orchestrating a stage invasion at the PGL Copenhagen Major in 2024.

The situation appears to have begun at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport where Melan1n appears to have gotten into a verbal altercation with Miller while transiting through the airport. Per clips shared by Melan1n on his now-deleted X account, Miller is seen calling Melan1n the N-word multiple times while attempting to goad Melan1n into a physical confrontation.

These clips were then published by an understandably flustered Melan1n who commented on the sheer absurdity and blatant racism on display, with multiple players and personalities coming out in support of the ESEA Advanced coach and player after the incident.

While Melan1n's confrontation with Miller was shocking on its own, a response from CSGOEmpire only escalated things further, with the betting website posting "shut up n*gger" in a reply to Melan1n's original post.

The company's decision to openly call Melan1n a slur appears to be motivated by an existing relationship between the two parties, with Miller being listed as an affiliate of CSGOEmpire alongside CSGOEmpire's owner Monarch:

Additionally, CSGOEmpire has embraced an increasingly alt-right and offensive social media strategy, with the company increasingly using slurs, offensive imagery, and downright racism in their "media strategy".

In the wake of their storming of the PGL Copenhagen Major stage and multiple other incidents, CSGOEmpire has increasingly become a pariah within the Counter-Strike space. However, the sheer profitability of skins trading and unregulated esports gambling has seen it maintain a number of relationships with websites in the CS world including HLTV and PLEY.GG.

This latest incident is beyond the pale into the realm of direct racist harassment and will hopefully see companies address their relationship with the platform after a long history of controversial, despicable, and illegal behavior.

Disclaimer: Dust2.us and HLTV.org are under the shared ownership of Better Collective. Advertisements and betting fixtures for CSGOEmpire have appeared on the HLTV platform. HLTV declined to comment on the status of their relationship with CSGOEmpire following this incident while Better Collective did not respond to a request for comment.