With Jeremy Hambly in the news because of his assault at the hands of Matt Loter the early morning of August 2, 2018, hours before the start of Gen Con, I thought it would be a good idea to check why Wizards of the Coast (WotC), the maker of Magic The Gathering, banned him for life. I’m glad I did because when WotC banned him on December 7, 2017, I criticized the ban. I’ve since learned I was wrong.
Hambly deserved the ban.
I knew the ban was for harassing and bullying cosplayer Christine Sprankle, but I didn’t know the details. At the time, I thought the claims of harassment and bullying were overblown. I now know they were not. I never saw the video in which Hambly harassed Sprankle because YouTube removed it. He posted the video on 5 June 2017 and entitled it, “Playset Of Beta White Knights Prevent Rape Of MTG Cosplayer @cspranklerun.”
If you think the word “rape” along with a woman’s twitter handle is a bad idea for a video title, you would be right. Even though YouTube removed the video, an archived copy is available, something I didn’t know when this controversy first arose.
The video is a lot worse than what I expected.
What Jeremy Hambly said about Christine Sprankle
In the video, Hambly referred to Sprankle as a “serial virtue signaler” and “crying for patron dollars professional cosplayer.” This was in response to Sprankle complaining publicly on Twitter about a man who posted a message on her Facebook page stating her cosplay gives him an erection. Hambly stated he would react favorably if he received a similar comment from a man.
Hambly then proceeded to run down the list comments made in response to Sprankle’s tweet, calling everyone who supported her a cuck and/or white knight. He called one man a shitty father.
Hambly also accused everyone supporting Sprankle on Twitter of wanting to penetrate her.
Hambly said cosplay is lingerie and then proceeded to go over photos of Sprankle cosplaying and made lewd, sexual comments about each photo. He then told his viewers to go to her Twitter account and let her know how unattractive and unsexual she looks.
Jeremy Hambly is a raging hypocrite
He also seems to have a major issue with Sprankle having a Patreon account so her fans can send her donations. Hambly calls these people “fucking losers.” I find this strange considering he too has a Patreon account so his fans can send him donations. Why does he criticize Sprankle for doing the same thing he does? Because Hambly suffers from weapons-grade hypocrisy.
Sprankle posted the following on Twitter:
It has been a rough year. And I have blocked and not said anything about him because I wanted it to die but without a doubt MtGHeadquarters/UnsleevedMedia has made my life hell this whole year with his unnecessary videos/tweets about me and other members of Magic.
Sprinkle has since deleted all of her tweets.
I am embarrassed I supported Jeremy Hambly
Watching the video Hambly made about Sprankle leaves me feeling embarrassed I originally supported him after Wizards of the Coast (WotC) gave him a lifetime ban. After watching the video removed by YouTube, I think WotC did the right thing. Hambly is a dishonest, toxic person. I say he’s dishonest because he was purposely spreading false information about the ban as soon as it happened.
Hambly said he never harassed Sprankle. That’s not true. WotC said actions taken in his social media accounts were in violation of WotC’s code of conduct. YouTube is part of social media. Hambly claimed in the above video to never agreeing to WotC’s code of conduct. That’s not true. If he had a Magic Online account, something he said he had before the ban, he had to check a box agreeing to adhere to the WotC code of conduct when he first created his account and then again each and every time the game was updated.
Hambly said he never harassed Sprankle, nor did he direct others to harass her. That’s not true. Anyone who watched the original video YouTube removed knows such claims are false.
Hambly harassed Sprankel.
Hambly directed others to harass Sprankel.
Hambly benefited greatly from YouTube removing his original video. Because it’s somewhat difficult for people to find, he’s able to lie and mislead people about the video’s content.
If I was WotC, I wouldn’t want him anywhere near my sanctioned events. I wouldn’t want Hambly to have anything to do with my game made for ages 13 and up.