South by Southwest, the technology, film, and music festival, has dropped a speaker from video game company Activision Blizzard, citing recent sexual harassment accusations against its top management.
“Given the ongoing and unfolding nature around the sexual harassment accusations being covered up at the executive levels of Activision, we decided it was best to not have high-profile speakers from Activision present at SXSW this year,” Linda Park, vice president of communications at South by Southwest, which is referred to as SXSW, said in a statement to the Washington Post.
The festival said that Activision chief marketing officer Fernando Machado was disinvited from a panel about user retention in the gaming industry set to take place on March 12. Machado is not named in any sexual harassment allegations leveled against the company. He has been replaced on the panel by Amazon Prime Gaming vice president Andrea Cutright, according to the Post.
Activision Blizzard, which owns the popular gaming franchises Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, has faced several accusations of a toxic workplace culture in the past year. Last July, company subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment was accused by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing of encouraging a “frat boy” culture. Later that year, Activision Blizzard struck an $18 million settlement with the government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which had accused it of subjecting female employees to sexual harassment and discriminating against pregnant workers.
Last week, the family of a former Activision Blizzard employee who died by suicide sued the company. The family alleges that the sexual harassment the woman faced while working for the company contributed to her death, according to the Washington Post.
Activision Blizzard and South by Southwest did not immediately respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.
SXSW, based in Austin, draws hundreds of thousands of attendees to its film screenings, moderated events, and technology expositions every year. It is set to take place from March 11 to 20.