Streamer Paulaeal speaks out on FNC Upset’s Worlds exit after Doublelift comments

Six months after Fnatic AD Carry Elias ‘Upset’ Lipp was forced to depart the 2021 World Championships a day before the start of the group stage due to a family emergency, the issue has once again been brought to the forefront on social media after comments made by Yilian ‘Doublelift’ Peng in a recent episode of the Trash Talk podcast. 

Upset’s departure from the 2021 World Championship came with no shortage of backlash. In Fnatic’s initial statement, an “urgent family matter” was cited as the reason for the bot laner’s absence, and the League community was quick to speculate on what the reasoning for such a hasty exit from the biggest tournament in the League calendar could have been.

Shortly after the end of Fnatic’s Worlds run, in which the team picked up only a single win in their group while playing with substitute AD Carry Louis ‘Bean’ Schmitz, top laner Adam ‘Adam’ Manaane released a Twitlonger in which he claimed that Upset’s departure had been for illegitimate reasons.

He explained that the team had been given no explanation as to why Upset had left, and that his departure was “totally unjustified” and that he had “just left to join his girlfriend because she felt bad to be alone.” In response, Upset provided clarification via a statement of his own, after which it appeared that the matter was mostly settled.

Doublelift’s stream comments

The controversy was brought to light again on April 21, when Doublelift commented on an episode of his Trash Talk podcast that the memes about Upset and his wife Paula ‘Paulaeal’ Lipp were “literally the funniest sh*t I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The quote in question begins at 46:57

Paula was quick to respond via Twitter, criticizing Doublelift for “making fun of other people’s pain”. She went on to explain that the reason for Upset’s departure was because she had been “abused”, and that “the right people in his work” had been informed of the real reason for his departure at the time.

This is the first official clarification fans have received on Upset’s departure since it happened all those months ago, with Upset himself commenting that he hoped “every person with at least half a brain can finally understand the decision.”

Doublelift’s response and community backlash

A few hours after Paula addressed the situation on Twitter, Doublelift responded on a Twitch stream after his chat brought up the timing of his comments and his ability to comment on the situation.

“It’s funny not knowing anything about the situation, and coming in as an outsider and seeing the memes. Now that it’s out that it’s about a really sensitive issue, it’s not funny anymore.”

A summary of the situation in light of Doublelift’s comments was posted to Reddit. Fan responses were divided – with some saying that Doublelift was not in the wrong for making light of the situation without full context, and others criticizing him for commenting on someone’s personal life without full knowledge of the reasoning behind their decisions.