{"id":48101,"date":"2025-05-19T14:56:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T05:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=48101"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:11:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T01:11:50","slug":"esports-player-faces-backlash-from-japanese-sponsor-and-public-for-posting-hiroshima-bombing-gif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/esports-player-faces-backlash-from-japanese-sponsor-and-public-for-posting-hiroshima-bombing-gif\/","title":{"rendered":"Esports player faces backlash from Japanese sponsor and public for posting Hiroshima bombing GIF\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Brazilian <strong>Rainbow Six Siege<\/strong> esports player Lucas Dias is in hot water following his now-deleted X post featuring a GIF of the Hiroshima bombing. The post was made after Dias\u2019s Team Liquid lost to Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) Osaka, a Japanese esports team, at a Rainbow Six Siege LAN event held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"805\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250519-48101-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48104\" style=\"width:632px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250519-48101-001.jpg 660w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/20250519-48101-001-312x380.jpg 312w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.j-cast.com\/2025\/05\/16504421.html?p=all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">J-CAST<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the deleted post, Dias talks about his team winning against FaZe Clan and ultimately losing to CAG Osaka. The controversial GIF features footage from a re-enactment of the Hiroshima bombing in a BBC documentary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey everyone. I want to sincerely apologize for the post I made after our last loss. I made a big mistake using that GIF, and I understand that it may have caused discomfort to many people. From the bottom of my heart It was never my intention to make any offensive reference, but\u2026<\/p>&mdash; Liquid Dias (@DiasLucasR6) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DiasLucasR6\/status\/1923034605478646251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 15, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the deletion of the original post, Dias made two follow-up apology posts (one in English and another in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DiasLucasR6\/status\/1923034875688305022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Portuguese<\/a>) stating his improper use of the GIF and how it was never his intention to offend anyone, especially Japanese Rainbow Six Siege fans living in Brazil and Japan. According to the post, he has also apologized directly to the members of CAG Osaka (all of whom are Japanese) and will reflect on his mistake so it won\u2019t happen again.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Dias\u2019s posts, many Japanese people aren\u2019t accepting his apology. Some are <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hidarino_Machi\/status\/1923123707431567663\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accusing Dias of intentionally using the GIF<\/a> despite knowing its storied history, as he allegedly would have had to type the word \u201cHiroshima\u201d for the GIF to appear in the search. Others want Dias <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UGRED5_2\/status\/1923501867495194738\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">removed from Team Liquid<\/a> or for <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/IT97939365\/status\/1923546961699041509\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Honda to drop the team\u2019s sponsorship<\/a>, as they see it as the only ways to clear the team\u2019s name.&nbsp;The story has also been picked up by Japanese news outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of Honda, American Honda Motor Company, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer Honda Motor Co., Ltd., is a sponsor for Team Liquid. When asked about the issue, Honda\u2019s public relations department said they \u201cprotested strongly to the team and players,\u201d which prompted the deletion of the original post, the issuance of an apology, and Team Liquid taking measures to prevent future recurrences (source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.j-cast.com\/2025\/05\/16504421.html?p=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">J-CAST News<\/a>).<strong> Update (2025\/05\/20 at 9:36 AM JST): <\/strong>Honda has since <a href=\"https:\/\/teamliquid.com\/news\/team-liquid-statement-on-recent-social-media-post-by-diaslucasbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> that it will be terminating its sponsorship agreement with Dias&#8217;s team. He has also been fined an equivalent of four months&#8217; salary, with the money going to charity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After losing to a Japanese team, Brazilian esports player Lucas Dias posted a gif depicting the Hiroshima atomic bombing, prompting controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":48103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-48101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Esports player faces backlash from Japanese sponsor and public for posting Hiroshima bombing GIF\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After losing to a Japanese team, Brazilian esports player Lucas Dias posted a gif depicting the Hiroshima atomic bombing, prompting controversy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/esports-player-faces-backlash-from-japanese-sponsor-and-public-for-posting-hiroshima-bombing-gif\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Esports player faces backlash from Japanese sponsor and public for posting Hiroshima bombing GIF\u00a0 - 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