SANTA MONICA, Calif. — In a Variety interview published this week, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick categorically denied all allegations of abuse against him that weren’t captured on voice mails or other recording devices, sources have confirmed.
“If you haven’t heard me saying it on tape, then it just didn’t happen,” said Kotick, who’s been embroiled in controversy ever since a 2021 Wall Street Journal reported his role in the company’s ‘frat boy culture.’ “I’ll give you an example. The voicemail where I threatened to kill my assistant in 2006? Absolutely real, and unacceptable. I remain apologetic and ashamed. Now, all of that other stuff since? The things you’ve been reading about for years, but aren’t on tape? Didn’t happen, and you’ll never prove it. How dare you.”
The Variety piece quickly drew criticism from many that said it didn’t investigate both sides of the story properly.
“They just talked to that asshole and took his word on everything,” said a former employee of Activision that wished to remain anonymous due to several ongoing lawsuits against her former employers. “They didn’t ask him about the ‘cube crawls,’ the ‘Cosby suite,’ the rape allegations, the bullying, the suicide, none of the things that have been widely discussed and alleged for years. Kotick just blamed it all on the union and said they were trying to ‘destabilize the company’.”
“Yeah man, love to get together with a thousand of my bros and sign a petition or stage a walkout to try and destabilize the company I work for,” she added. “After we’ve all corroborated our made up stories about the toxic workplace we all endured, of course. Fuckin’ yahoo, man.”
Despite Kotick’s claims, most readers didn’t believe his assertions.
“I know he’s got such a warm, trusting look about him,” said one reader. “But in my gut I just have this hunch that his entire workforce is telling the truth, and not him. I have like a sixth sense about stuff like this. Between the years of claims, lawsuits, reports, and accusations and then my gut feeling, I don’t think this Kotick guy is on the level. Hate to say it.”
When asked for a comment, Mr. Kotick asked me to turn off my tape recorder if we “really wanted to sort this thing out.”
