Scott Cawthon, creator of the popular horror video game, “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” refused to bend the knee to the cancel mob Monday after he was attacked for donating to Democrat Representative Tulsi Gabbard and prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
Video game news site GameRant reported Sunday that fans of the game franchise “are concerned and hurt to find out where the money Cawthon makes from the popular horror series is going.”
“Fans who searched for Scott Cawthon on Open Secrets, an index of public political contributions, noticed that the developer has made significant monetary contributions to a number of conservative politicians such as Senator Mitch McConnell and former President Donald J. Trump,” GameRant’s Kazuo Sato wrote.
“With the huge popularity of the Five Nights At Freddy’s series, a significant portion of the fanbase have taken to social media such as Twitter and Reddit to voice disappointment for Cawthon’s donations, and as a result both he and ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ have been trending topics on Twitter for the past several days,” Sato wrote.
Gamers were not even satisfied with his donation to former Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, calling her “transphobic” and “homophobic.”
the most damning piece of evidence against Scott Cawthon imo is that he identifies as a proud republican and yet donated a lot of money to a single democrat: Tulsi Gabbard.
y’know, one of the most openly transphobic and homophobic democratic politicians.
— Mobile Suit Gundamina (@ScraftyDevil) June 12, 2021
Cawthon was silent over the weekend, but early Monday he posted on the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” subreddit refusing to apologize for his beliefs and donations and blasting his intolerant attackers for wanting “endless apologies and submission.”
“I’d like to think that the last seven years would have given me the benefit of the doubt in regards to how I try to treat people, but there I was, trending on twitter for being a homophobe, getting doxed, with people threatening to come to my house,” he wrote. “All this because I exercised my right, and my duty, as an American citizen, to vote for and support the candidates who I felt could best run the country, for everyone, and that’s something that I won’t apologize for.”
Cawthon noted that candidates he supported include men, women, white people, black people, Republicans, and Democrats.
And yes, I supported President Trump, because I felt he was the best man to fuel a strong economy and stand up to America’s enemies abroad, of which there are many. Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good.”
Cawthon said his explanation is probably useless “as people don’t want to discuss with one another anymore; they want endless apologies and submission,” but that “People who are expecting those from me will get neither.”
“I’m a republican. I’m a Christian. I’m pro-life. I believe in God. I also believe in equality, and in science, and in common sense. Despite what some may say, all of those things can go together. That’s not an apology or promise to change, it’s the way it’s always been,” he said.
Cawthon concluded by saying he was not afraid of being canceled because he doesn’t create his games for money anymore.
“I do it because I enjoy it. If people think I’m doing more harm than good now, then maybe it’s better that I get cancelled and retire. I would accept that. I’ve had a fulfilling career. Besides, most things that people can take from you are things that never had much value to begin with,” he said.
The controversy comes just as Cawthon is preparing to release “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach” later this year, the 10th installment of the series that began in 2014. While some fans have said they will boycott the franchise, “#istandwithscott” trended on Twitter over the weekend in support of Cawthorn and the franchise.
Politics aren't as black and white as people think. I disagree with Scott's political stand on a lot of things but getting doxxed, death threats… ridiculous, absolutely pathetic
Separate art from the artists, with that being said;
FNAF SB HYPE CONTINUES!#istandwithscott pic.twitter.com/vKCI24tTQx— SmackNPie #SavePalestine (@SmackNPie) June 13, 2021
Scott Cawthon is a father, a husband. He doesn't deserve this shit, I mean, come on, death threats?#istandwithscott pic.twitter.com/ILuiYkgkdC
— mouthwash92 (@mouthwash92) June 14, 2021
