Conor McGregor fires Hitman ‘immediately’ after jury orders him to pay $260,000 to woman who accused him of rape

On November 26, 2024By Pranco

Hitman developer IO Interactive has announced that it will no longer be working with MMA fighter Conor McGregor added to the game as Elusive Target in June, following a civil lawsuit that found him liable for assaulting a woman who accused him of raping her in 2018. All content featuring his character in the game will be removed from sale.

“In light of the recent court ruling on Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease working with the athlete with immediate effect,” the studio wrote. X. “We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. That’s why, starting today, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our stores.”

In light of the recent court ruling on Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has decided to terminate its partnership with the athlete with immediate effect. We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its consequences. That's why, starting today, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our stores. — (Image credit: IO Interactive (Twitter))

IO confirmed that the lawsuit in question is the recently concluded civil trial in which he was ordered to pay more than €248,000 ($260,000) to a woman who accused McGregor of raping her in 2018. BBC According to the report, the trial included eight days of evidence and three days of closing arguments and judge comments; the jury deliberated for more than six hours before delivering a verdict.

In a now deleted message on X (via CBS), McGregor complained that the jury had not heard all the evidence in the case and indicated that he would appeal the verdict. “The judge’s instruction and the modest award awarded were for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages,” McGregor said.

IO Interactive is clearly not looking forward to that. The trailer for The Disruptor Pack DLC featuring McGregor has been removed, and the Disruptor Pack DLC itself has been removed from Steam, the Epic Games Store, and PlayStation Store, although it will remain available elsewhere for now. IO said the content should disappear from all stores soon; The Disruptor Arcade mission in the paid DLC pack will remain accessible to players who already own it, but new players will no longer be able to purchase the DLC and therefore will not have access to the mission.

McGregor was preceded by actors as a celebrity Elusive Target Sean Boon And Gary Busey and represented a high-profile asset for IO Interactive, but also an inherently risky one. His numerous “controversies“, as they are described on Wikipedia, include multiple cases of assault; he has also faced at least three other allegations of sexual assault, although none of the claims resulted in charges being filed.