FaZe Clan content creator Jakob “Teeqo” Swaerden, a member for 12 years, has lashed out against the organization in a YouTube video on March 12 for showing favoritism to new recruits over their long-serving creators.
He accused FaZe Clan of being disrespectful and dishonest with him. “You showed me over again that I don’t mean shit to y’all,” he said, accusing the team of making “fake promises” for years and claiming that they disrespected him by prioritizing new members over him.
The Swede claimed the organization favored recent signings over veteran members: “Someone else can come in as late as last year, who’s not from this industry, never lifted a finger for FaZe, probably didn’t even know what FaZe was, and get three times the amount of shares that I have, and an annual salary that’s more money than I’ve ever been paid,” he claimed
The 29-year-old also says he invested $100,000 from his own pocket to sign a CS:GO roster and never received due recognition for this amount of commitment to the org, apart from getting the money back a year later.
“I was just not gonna act like I was not part of that, that I wasn’t low-key one of the reasons we even got a CS team to begin with. I gave more fucks about that than all of the owners combined.”
The streamer says that he has attempted to solve the issues privately with FaZe Clan, but after deeming this path unsuccessful, chose to go public.
This marks the second FaZe member to come out against the organization, with content creator Rain accusing the organization of taking advantage of him in regards to not receiving payment for brand deals.
Teeqo showed support for his fellow team member, saying: “Rain is right. [He]’s the only guy who has the balls to speak up. He’s the only one who doesn’t let them walk all over us because he cares about the brand.”
Teeqo claims he signed the same contract that Turner “Tfue” Tenney did when he joined the organization. The former Fortnite pro took FaZe to court over the “oppressive” nature of the deal, and the lawsuit was eventually settled by both parties in 2020. While Tfue’s contract was terminated in 2019, the Swede says he never received revised terms from the team.
According to the team’s official website, Teeqo is still part of FaZe Clan, but he isn’t feeling included and demanded a clear statement from the organization regarding his status. “I’m asking you: am I in, FaZe? If I’m not in anymore, please make it clear,” he added.
The organization has yet to respond publically to Teeqo. Dot Esports has reached out to FaZe Clan for comment, and will update this article when we receive one.
