In the United States legal system, you're innocent until proven guilty (or supposed to be anyway). But in the world of sports, video games, and entertainment, you're now guilty by assocation.
For those unfamiliar, Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane was accused last week of sexual assault. The woman who has accused Kane has had a rape kit administered, and though Kane is under investigation, he has not yet been arrested or charged with a crime. That's currently where we stand from a legal standpoint.
But his alleged involvement in the investigation was all the evidence EA Sports needed to pull the plug on the player, announcing today in a tweet that Kane will no longer grace the cover of NHL 16 or be a involved in any promotional activities for the game.
"In light of the ongoing investigation involving Patrick Kane, he will no longer be a spokesperson for the launch of EA Sports NHL 16," the statement from EA Sports reads. "He will not appear on the EA Sports NHL 16 cover nor participate in other EA Sports NHL 16 promotional activities."
On one hand, I get why EA made the move. Obviously, you don't want this kind of publicity surrounding the release of your game, especially given the nature of the accusation. But on the other hand, removing Kane from the cover before any sort of charge has been made casts a shadow of doubt over Kane's possible innocence. Now I'm not saying Kane is innocent by any means — his mere history of assault suggests quite the opposite actually — but what I am saying is that he legally hasn't been charged with any crime. He's technically being punished for being the subject of a sexual assault investigation, which could prematurely lead some to believe he's already guilty (which he may or may not be).
The new cover now only features Chicago Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews. It looks like this:
Is it right for EA to remove Patrick Kane from all promotional activities over the rape accusation? That's not for me to say, but EA has apparently made their decision and Kane will no longer be involved.
