Recently, a troubling incident occurred during a Dota 2 match involving Chinese player Ame and former T1 mid-laner Karl. During the game, the player from Gaozu insulted Ame with a racist remark: "Eat a banana, monkey. Worthless dog, eat the banana," a common derogatory slur used by Chinese players towards Southeast Asians.
The response came quickly — in their next encounter, Karl fired back, saying, "Eat my banana? I’ve got a big banana, you can eat it." Karl’s teammates on DK and Doom joined in with the insults, while Ame, at the end of the match, retaliated by calling the opponents "monkeys" and asking if they had eaten the banana.
Interestingly, in the first match, Kuku also played against Ame, which adds further context to this conflict. Back in 2018, Kuku was involved in a racism scandal after using the phrase "Ching Chong" in matchmaking, mocking the Chinese language. This led to backlash not only against the Filipino player but also from Valve, who initially ignored the incident until authorities in Chongqing, where the major was held, threatened to cancel the tournament. It was only then that Valve banned Kuku from playing at The Chongqing Major and fined TNC, his team, 20% of their DPC points.
A few months later, the Chongqing government officially banned Kuku from entering China. However, a year later, he still attended TI in Shanghai. Despite this, Chinese fans had not forgotten the incident — at the tournament, their support was expressed through booing Kuku and celebrating his elimination. Even three years later, player Poyoyo verbally sent Kuku "home" during a verbal exchange.
This incident has once again raised questions about racism and unjust insults in esports, reminding us that such conflicts continue to linger in the memories of fans and players even years later.