Pokemon not taking action against TCG Champion who had racist symbol shaved into head

Play! Pokemon has closed the investigation into a situation involving Hartford Regionals TCG Champion Rowan Stavenow, who went viral back in May for having a racist symbol shaved into his head.

On May 22, 2023, a video showing newfound Hartford Regionals Pokemon TCG Champion Rowan Stavenow with a racist symbol shaved into the side of his head sparked quite a bit of backlash across the community.

He quickly responded, stating that he did not know a swastika was being shaved into his head after giving his friends permission to do whatever they like before shaving his head entirely. Rowan also revealed that he didn’t appreciate the video being posted online.

Play! Pokemon investigated the situation as it would break their rules against hateful conduct, and have now revealed their findings.

Play! Pokemon closes racist symbol investigation

On June 12, 2023, Play! Pokemon updated fans on the investigation into the alleged hateful conduct by the Hartford Regionals Champion.

“We are aware of a player accused of egregious behavior that falls well outside of expectations for the   Play! Pokémon community,” they said.

The blog revealed that Stavenow did not take an active role in the situation and that members of his peer group were determined to be responsible. On top of that, they found that the content was published in a way intended to cause harm to Rowan.

“Currently our findings do not support taking any disciplinary action against the accused player,” Play! Pokemon revealed.

Rowan has not commented on the final rulings at the time of writing, but we will update this article if he does.

In the meantime, head over to our Pokemon section to check out more news, guides, and other viral stories.