Former Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, a controversial figure himself due to multiple sexual assault allegations filed against the company during his tenure, exchanged several emails with both Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. One even said he wished he could have "stopped by the island."
These latest revelations come from the Justice Department's massive release of files pertaining to convicted child trafficker Epstein. Emails from November 2012 show the pair trying to set up a meeting. Epstein had apparently wanted them to sit down with director Woody Allen. Jeez, it was a potential scandal trifecta! Kotick wrote that he wasn't able to attend this dinner.
Epstein sent information about his now infamous island to Kotick, to which he responded "Great, wished would could have stopped by the island. Epstein tried to arrange a tour of Activision, but the company had no comment when Kotaku asked for further details.
A May 2012 email has Kotick lamenting that he missed a meeting with Epstein's "Russian guest," but promising to see her and Epstein next time.
All of these emails happened after 2008, when Epstein pled guilty to soliciting a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. It would be the beginning of the end for Epstein, but it's anybody guess at this point where this scandal ends and what famous names will be caught up in it.
A lawsuit against Activision Blizzard described a "frat boy" culture in which sexual harassment was common. Men passed around nude pictures of women and engaged in a ritual called the "cube crawl," in which men would get inebriated and then walk around the cubicles, being inappropriate to women.
Activision settled with California's Civil Rights Department for $50 million.
If nothing else comes from this, hopefully the Epstein connection makes Kotick too toxic for any other company to bring him on.