EPTI want to make absolutely clear that I am not a racist. The accusations against me could not be farther from the truth. The 'N word' was used in a replacable fashion, in that any other curse word would have held the exact same meaning for me. I understand now, however, that this doesn't hold true for all members of the community. For any I truly offended, I am sorry for offending you. I judge people based on who they are, not the color of their skin, and I would challenge anyone to debate me on this matter. I have never once held any bit of racism in my heart, but it's understandable that when I wear some of it on my sleeve people assume it extends to my heart. I hope each and every one of you can understand that while I use offensive language when my emotions get the better of me, I do not stand by the language I use. It was a mistake, plain and simple. One that I will not soon forget.
From the community, forgetting is what I dream of, forgiveness is what I hope for, but understanding is what I need.
We all have regrets from our past, and you can bet this mistake of mine will be regretted for the rest of my life.
I also want to extend my most gracious thanks and appreciation for EG and everyone involved. Never have I worked for a company I enjoyed working with so much. I was having the best time of my life before this incident reared its ugly head, so I want to thank them for providing me with that opportunity. It's a shame I had to ruin this for myself before it even started, but hopefully one day, in the future, forgiveness will allow me to return to casting. All I have ever wanted in the SC2 scene was to provide entertainment and education for the community and viewers, and I have failed at that.
My sincerest apologies,
Jake "orb" Sklarew
Edit: I wanted to add something to this post due to something many of the responses have been touching on. Many people think that the fact that I have used this awful word in the past means that the first screenshot submitted was in fact myself, and that I lied to the community. This is simply not true. The first screenshot submitted, that I claimed was not me, was in fact not me. My original story still stands, the difference is that as soon as that screenshot came out on reddit, everyone started scrubbing through replays against me and all of my vods, searching for something to prove I am in fact racist. Thus the screenshots from statements I made 1+ year ago surfaced on reddit. Notice as soon as the first of these screenshots was released, I immediately owned up and apologized (as seen here). All of the evidence of me using the N word (which again, was 100% wrong by me) was from old screenshots/vods way before I was even talking to the EG guys, let alone representing them. Sorry for the confusion, I hope this clears up the issue with my perceived "dishonesty." Note in Alex Garfield's statement the supposed "lying" wasn't even an issue, rather just my actions and poor judgement.
As for the lateness in my final apology here and the accusations that I am only doing it now that EG has fired me, I was actually told specifically by EG management not to make any statements (on twitter, teamliquid, or reddit) until they had decided what to do about it and made their own statement. Sorry for this causing any doubt for people as to whether or not my apology is sincere!
