AGDQ 2017 saw many talented speedrunners teaming up to raise a record-breaking $2.2 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, though despite the event’s success in raising money for a great cause, it wasn’t without controversy.
During a speedrun of the SNES classic Super Metroid, a few audience members decided to repeatedly shout out Nintendo character Waluigi’s famous “Wah!” catchphrase, distracting the competitors in the process. But while a simple “be quiet” would have sufficed, speedrunner CruelFancyBaron (known as CFB) decided to go in strong, suggesting that they kill themselves by way of jumping in front of one of the event’s shuttles in order to “prevent cancer.”
Despite it being obscenely obvious that making a cancer-related insult at an event dedicated to providing money to fight against cancer would ruffle some feathers, CFB requested that the speedrun’s announcer handed him the microphone, before addressing the audience with the following excruciating comment: “None of you guys are funny. If you want to prevent cancer consider standing out in front of the shuttle that’s running in front of the hotel on the hour. Thank you.”
The comment was met with some faint applause, before the announcer took back the mic and muttered “As the announcer I’ll say no, please, do not do that.”
Watch below:
The official AGDQ Twitter account responded to complaints regarding CFB’s comments with the following tweet:
We've privately addressed the comment made earlier. Enjoy the race!
— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) January 15, 2017
CFB didn’t show up to any other streams, with it being reported that AGDQ organizers had banned him from the event. Following the negative reaction to his comment, CFB also posted his own tweet:
I want to die
— cfb (@CruelFancyBaron) January 15, 2017
Inevitably, other users were quick to mock him for the incident:
I heard there's an hourly shuttle in front of the venue that could help with that
— ?️?shobujames??️ (@shobujames) January 15, 2017
AGDQ has yet to provide further comment on the incident, though the clip has been widely shared on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter since the live stream. It’s uncertain whether or not CFB will be invited back to future AGDQ events, or whether he’s been permanently banned from the show.
