LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 10: Chris Avellone introduces ‘Dying Light 2’ by Techland during the … [+] Microsoft xBox E3 briefing at the Microsoft Theater on June 10, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The E3 Game Conference begins on Tuesday June 12. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Back in June of 2021 I reported on video game writer Chris Avellone’s libel lawsuit against two women who had accused Avellone of sexual assault on Twitter. Avellone publicly denied the accusations and announced he was taking both women to court over their statements.
When the initial case was dismissed by a California court on jurisdictional grounds, Avellone filed the lawsuit in Illinois (September, 2022).
Now, nearly two years later, the case has been settled. Avellone’s accusers, Karissa Barrows and Kelly Bristol, have signed a joint statement retracting their previous claims and clearing Avellone of wrongdoing, stating that their original claims were misinterpreted. “The settlement agreement provides for a seven-figure payment to Mr. Avellone,” Avellone’s attorney confirmed to me via email. The settlement is confidential and further details were not provided.
In a blog post titled “Joint Statement From Karissa Barrows, Kelly Bristol,and Chris Avellone” Avellone writes:
“The parties resolved the matter and claims were dismissed with prejudice pursuant to a confidential settlement that provides for a seven-figure payment that includes the return of the attorney fee award entered against Mr. Avellone in California.
“I understand that Ms. Barrows has requested to retract her comments to the media about me.”
I have received a copy of the below statement from Mr. Avellone’s lawyers.
The statement from Barrows and Bristol reads:
“After engaging with Mr. Avellone, we have prepared the following statement:
“Mr. Avellone never sexually abused either of us. We have no knowledge that he has ever sexually abused any women. We have no knowledge that Mr. Avellone has ever misused corporate funds. Anything we have previously said or written about Mr. Avellone to the contrary was not our intent. We wanted to support women in the industry. In so doing, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended. We are passionate about the safety, security and agency of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ persons, and every other community that has seen persecution in the video game industry. We believe Mr. Avellone shares a desire to protect and uplift those communities. We believe that he deserves a full return to the industry and support him in those endeavors.”
– Karissa Barrows, Kelly Rae Bristol
Avellone’s statement on the matter reads:
“I appreciate the willingness of Ms. Barrows and Ms. Bristol to work with us in addressing issues within the game community, and their advocacy is to be commended and supported.
There are still many very real challenges that we face but am confident we can face them together.
In the spirit of these goals, I would ask everyone to respect the privacy of Ms. Barrows and Ms. Bristol and use this opportunity as a means to listen to all voices in improving our culture and our communities.”
– Chris Avellone
Barrows had previously claimed on Twitter that Avellone was “an abusive, abrasive, conniving sexual predator” who had attempted to sexually assault her after getting her “black out drunk.” Barrows told Kotaku in 2020, “He’s f****** disgusting, but he did not rape me. He assaulted me, 100 percent, but I stopped him.”
Avellone was fired from his job working on Dying Light 2 when the accusations came to light and has been widely blacklisted from the industry after a decades-long career working on dozens of popular video games including numerous RPGs like Pillars of Eternity, Icewind Dale and Fallout 2.
This is a breaking story. Stay tuned.
This post was updated with the exact statement from Avellone’s lawyers in order to provide more detail on the payout. Further details from the confidential settlement agreement remain confidential.
