Sucker Punch studio head Brian Fleming has commented on the case of a studio veteran who was fired from the studio for "making light" of the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.
Drew Harrison, who had worked at Sucker Punch as an artist for almost 10 years, wrote "I hope the shooter's name is Mario so that Luigi knows his bro got his back," in the immediate aftermath of Kirk's shooting—a reference to Luigi Mangione, the prime suspect in the December 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Numerous right- and far-right-wing influencers—including Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk—were on the prowl for negative comments about Kirk in the wake of his shooting with the aim of punishing progressive and critical voices.
Harrison quickly found themselves in this spotlight and, a few hours after her original post, wrote that Sucker Punch had received numerous emails calling for her dismissal. She was also inundated with missed calls, likely from outraged onlookers. She was fired less than 24 hours after her tweet.
In an interview with Game File, Fleming confirmed that Harrison was ousted because of her joke about Kirk and the subsequent campaign. "The facts are accurate, Drew's no longer an employee here. I think we're aligned as a studio that celebrating or making light of someone's murder is a deal-breaker for us, and we condemn that, kind of in no uncertain terms. That's sort of our studio, and that's kind of where we are."
A Sony rep present for the interview prevented it from delving into the issue further.
Harrison's swift dismissal did little to dull right-wing rage. Since her firing, cancel campaigns have gone after Bethesda, Blizzard, and numerous public figures and institutions outside of videogames, most notably talk show host Jimmy Kimmel (who was taken off the air) and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, who was fired from the paper for "unacceptable" social media posts about Kirk's murder (the posts highlighted the disparity in coverage between Kirk's assassination and Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman, and quoted Kirk directly as saying "Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously.")
In posts subsequent to their firing, Harrison wrote "If standing up against fascism is what cost me my dream job I held for 10 years, I would do it again 100x stronger… Sucker Punch is amazing and one of the last few bright shining lights in the game industry. I still support them and I cannot condone any animosity directed at them. It’s truly all the best people."
