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Activision cuts ties with the voice actor of Ghost in Call of Duty after sexist comments

Activision will no longer work with actor Jeff Leach following hateful comments.

Donovan Erskine

May 10, 2021 1:50 PM

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Call of Duty fans will recognize Jeff Leach as the voice of Simon “Ghost” Riley in Modern Warfare (2019) and in Warzone. The voice actor found himself in hot water when videos of him being sexist and hateful resurfaced online. Following the the newly released footage, Activision, the publisher behind Call of Duty, has cut ties with the actor.

It was on May 7, 2021 when Twitter user @NitroLukeDX released a thread of tweets exposing Jeff Leach for being sexist and hateful on several occassions. In the footage posted, Leach can be heard saying all sorts of offensive language and terms, all of which we’ll allow you to hear for yourself, should you choose to do so.

[1/3] Jeff Leach Misogynist?!
@FacebookGaming Partner, Voice of @CallofDuty "Ghost" @Activision

Serious personalised intrusive sexism. Influence. Contempt. Violence! Serial offender! @TheZombiUnicorn

Watch the clip RT! Respect Women! #GameOver4Sexism pic.twitter.com/jtNj3xy5sN

— NitroLukeDX (@NitroLukeDX) May 7, 2021

In response to the behavior from Leach, Activision released an official statement to Charlie Intel:

Leach had already been banned from Twitch in the past for comments he made against a woman. He then went on to become a partnered streamer for Facebook Gaming. Facebook has yet to comment on the topic. We will be sure to update this story as new information becomes available.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_