Belgian League of Legends pro Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau is facing backlash after saying that women should avoid playing competitive League during their periods.
Bwipo was playing a game of League during a September 2025 live stream when he began to discuss women in the competitive gaming scene.
At first, Bwipo appeared to sympathize with women in esports, lamenting the “lack of support” for female pros in the space and taking note of the physical changes that happen to people who menstruate.
“I think there’s just not enough support for female pro players,” he began. “Women’s anatomy and their monthly cycles are extremely different from males, and there is no proper support system for women to go through what they’re going through when it comes to competition in my opinion, at least.”
Bwipo is a professional League of Legends player currently signed to FlyQuest.
However, his next comments would spark a firestorm of criticism toward him, as he advised women to avoid playing competitive video games in general during their periods.
“I think a lot of people, even men, get tilted out of their f**king minds when they play League of Legends. When a woman is on the wrong part of the month, for playing competitively — you know what I mean? There is a time of the month where you should not be playing competitive games as a woman in my opinion.
“This is my experience. I lived with one for a while, and she played a lot of League ranked. It was really obvious when she was getting super irritated at every little thing. I’m not trying to be sexist or anything, that’s just the way it was.”
Bwipo went on to suggest that female pros should “relax or do a bit more VOD reviewing” during that time of the month, saying that people who menstruate “don’t have as much room to be competitive” as their non-menstruating peers as a result.
“I don’t think it’s not possible, I just think it’s much harder. That’s my experience. I could be wrong,” he continued, noting that women are still able to compete in other competitive games like chess or even physical sports.
Despite Bwipo’s assurance that his remarks weren’t sexist in nature, a clip from his stream speaking on the subject quickly went viral on social media, sparking outrage from women in esports and those in the League community.
“Wtf? That is, in fact, pretty sexist,” one user wrote on X. “Another reason to dislike Bwipo. Horrific PR for Flyquest as an org.”
“What does Bwipo think women do in other sports?” another asked.
Esports host Sjokz even discussed the situation on TikTok, where she blasted his take as “ignorant” and claimed he was spreading potentially “dangerous rhetoric” to his viewers.
“That’s such a crazy take, because what do you think women do? Women are on their period bleeding buckets, having extreme pains… they’re extremely tired and lethargic, but they’re out there breaking Olympic records… they’re out there putting in 24-hour shifts as a nurse.”
“But a game of League? Woah! Hold the phone. …also, the notion that men aren’t emotional in games of League? …I think it’s quite ignorant to say this and to frame this as such, because that is dangerous rhetoric. You need to see the bigger picture and the harm this rhetoric does to women.”
Thus far, Bwipo has not issued a public statement regarding the debate surrounding his viral comments, but FlyQuest, the team to which he’s signed, has confirmed that it is “being acknowledged and addressed” by the organization in a message in their Discord server.
However, the org itself is also facing backlash due to this statement, where they also claimed they would “ban” anyone for “putting another message regarding it” into the server.
This is far from the first time Bwipo has found himself in the midst of controversy. He is somewhat notorious for his outbursts during games of League, as well as his lengthy monologues calling out his fellow pro players in the scene.
In September 2024, Bwipo was contacted by LS and got in touch with a mental health professional, who gave him an official diagnosis following a series of rants against other pros.
“I’ve always been a controversial player, and when it comes to gameplay I’m pretty thick skinned so I don’t mind people hating me for that,” Bwipo said after the ordeal.
“It sucks of course, of course, it’s nicer to hear that I’m the goat and I’m the best player and stuff like this, but I know that my gameplay has flaws right now, and I have to practice hard to make them better.”
