The Recent Allegations Against Production Company Rooster Teeth Are Not the First

An American video production company from Austin, Tex., Rooster Teeth Productions, has come under fire for allegations against some of its top employees.

Adam Kovic and Ryan Haywood have exited Rooster Teeth as well as Funhaus, a video-gaming, gaming news and entertainment news YouTube channel owned by Rooster Teeth, after explicit photos were leaked online alongside allegations that the two have been soliciting and grooming underage fans.

Surprisingly, this is not Rooster Teeth’s first run-in with its employees getting out of line. In 2019, Mike Quinn, the former vice president of product and engineering at Rooster Teeth, was arrested after a physical altercation with his wife.

According to CBS Austin, Michael Quinn faced felony domestic violence charges after his wife told police he brutally beat and strangled her. According to court documents, the victim told officers Quinn was out with his brother and friends the night before the incident, and came home early the next morning still drunk and high.

The two got into a verbal argument after she returned from work and Quinn questioned where she was. She says the argument soon turned physical when he punched her several times in the stomach and head. She also remarked that he laughed when she cried for help.

She says Quinn pointed a gun at her head, before putting it down and saying, “If i’m going to kill you i’m going to use my hands.” After strangling her to the point of unconsciousness, she says she woke up to Quinn standing over her, laughing at her condition. She then says that he threatened to kill her, saying, “I’m going to bury your body in the backyard.”

According to KXAN, court records show that an emergency protective order was issued against Quinn, barring him from contacting or going near his wife and several other people, including their daughter. Quinn has also been barred from possessing a firearm.

On the night of Nov. 18, 2019, online records showed that Quinn had been arrested and booked into the Travis County Jail with a bond set at $100,000. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office explained that he posted bond two days later. Following the arrest, Michael Quinn was let go from Rooster Teeth.

Rooster Teeth employees, Adam Kovic and Ryan Haywood, have exited Funhaus and Rooster Teeth after explicit photos were leaked online as well as allegations that both Adam and Ryan were soliciting and grooming underage fans, as reported by Kotaku.

Explicit photos of Ryan Haywood were allegedly sent to Tessa Graves, a young fan who states she was 17 years old at the time she received the photos. In a video posted to YouTube, she explained her side of the story, claiming Haywood was under the impression that she was 18 when he sent her the photos and didn’t know her real age. At the time of the incident, Haywood would have been 36 years old.

In the video, Tessa recounted her experiences, detailing a photograph she says she accidentally sent to Haywood, which kicked off the dialogue that stayed mainly of a sexual nature. She alleges the two made plans to have sex and exchanged nudes during this time.

Photographs of both Ryan Haywood and former host Adam Kovic were later leaked to 4chan. According to reports, Kovic’s photographs were allegedly obtained via a catfishing scam but this has yet to be confirmed. In a now-deleted Twitter post, Kovic stated he’d been the victim of “an unbelievable breach of privacy” and went on to apologize to his family.

Due to the news catching wind of this story, both hosts have been asked to leave Rooster Teeth. In a Twitter statement, the company announced they had parted ways with the two employees.

“Our Code of Conduct is meant for everyone in our community to follow and that includes our staff and anyone who works or partners with Rooster Teeth. We have parted ways with two employees whose conduct did not reflect the values we strive to uphold in our Code of Conduct,” they said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.