Kenzodielocke
Banned
Three current and former Naughty Dog employees, all speaking under condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize their careers, all said they had not heard anything about Ballard's sexual harassment allegations until this weekend and that they were disturbed by the news. Those employees said they did not know or want to speculate who the alleged sexual harasser may be. Each discipline at the studio typically has two leads, and by one estimate there are around two dozen at Naughty Dog.
One current Naughty Dog employee said that he and co-workers he spoke to were ”blind-sided" by the news, and that while he believed Ballard's allegations, he also believed that the studio had been unaware of them. ”There definitely is not a culture of covering up bad behavior," that person said. ”I and quite a lot of other people wouldn't be here if there was."
It was clear to Ballard's co-workers that he was upset during his final months at Naughty Dog, those three sources said, and they said his self-acknowledged mental breakdown was clear to everyone at the studio. But people who worked with Ballard said they had thought it was the result of Naughty Dog's long hours and high-pressure culture.
More at link.
https://kotaku.com/former-naughty-dog-employee-says-he-was-fired-after-fil-1819557683
Update:
Couple things:
1) People I spoke with knew Ballard well. I can't get into specifics because I don't want anyone to be identifiable, but I spoke with people who were close to him, not strangers from across the office.
2) While I always appreciate feedback, folks here need to understand that my job as a reporter is to get information and try to tell the whole story, not to pick a side. It's also my job to help use truth against power, and I really hope Ballard chooses to talk more because this story isn't completely told yet, but in this case I felt it was important to hear reactions from people who worked with him. I wanted to help unfold more of the story rather than copy-pasting some tweets and calling it a day.
(The posts about "clicks" are particularly laughable, and ignorant, because we would have gotten the highest number of clicks if we had leaped on the news immediately instead of taking the time to do reporting.)
I should also note that I chose not to report some of the things I heard about Ballard, either because they were not relevant or because I couldn't corroborate them with at least two people (which is generally my standard for reporting anything sensitive).
Anyway, this isn't over yet. I already have another interview set up with someone who knows more about what went down, and I am in touch with someone who posted in Kotaku's comments claiming that he too was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog. I will continue reporting and following this story, no matter which direction(s) it leads. And I will continue to be as sympathetic as possible to Ballard, as I would to anyone who alleged that horrible things happened to them.