After breaking his silence since Wizards of the Coast removed him from the Magic Pro League, former Hall of Famer and Magic: The Gathering pro player Owen Turtenwald has taken it to Twitter to apologize for his "terrible mistakes".
Turtenwald shared the open letter after revealing his love for Hearthstone and his recent participation at the Masters Tours event at Seoul, South Korea. The tweet opened with an explanation to why he didn't address the issue, and went on to aplogize.
"I have been disrespectful to women. Many times, I have made terrible mistakes for which I am very sorry," Turtenwald wrote. "I believed because alcohol was involved that it was harmless and that is absolutely false."
Turtenwald shared the message five months after he was replaced at last March's Mythic Invitationals and removed from the Magic Pro League, the 32-player competitive league featuring the best Magic players in the world.
Although Turtenwald didn't mention the names of those affected or talk about what he specifically did, his apology sounds sincere:"The moment I fully understood and appreciated how my actions made people feel I stopped immediately," Turtenwald said. "I failed my core values and I need to change. I will never make these mistakes again. Women should be treated with respect and dignity in all situations, at all times, no matter what. I was extremely selfish and did not care how others felt. I was wrong."
The 2015-2016 Magic: The Gathering Player of the Year admitted that he strugged with alcoholism and mental health and said that he is receiving professional help. "To my friends, fans, supporters, gamers everywhere, and most importantly everyone who I hurt: I am deeply sorry."
Reid Duke, a member of Turtenwald's former Magic group Peach Garden Oath with William "Huey Jensen", supported his friend's message on Twitter: "True healing will come from actions rather than from words," Duke wrote. "In the last 11 months I've watched Owen make great strides in becoming a healthier person. I believe in my friend's ability to better himself and become a positive influence on those around him."
Last March, just one day before the Mythic Invitational at PAX East, Wizards of the Coast announced that Turtenwald would not be participating in the Magic Arena event, and that he would be replaced by retired Pro Tour commentator Brian David-Marshall.
Kotaku later reported that Turtenwald had been accused of "exhibited a pattern of predatory behavior toward female Magic players that spans several years" but it was unclear whether these allegations played into Wizards of the Coast's decision to remove him from the Mythic Invitational and the Magic Pro League.
The DCI and Wizards of the Coast didn't officially ban Turtenwald from playing Magic but the former MTG Hall of Famer hasn't been participating at any Wizards of the Coast sanctioned Magic tournaments since the incident.
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