Esports giant Team Liquid PH lost a major sponsor in Honda following a controversial post from one of its Rainbow Six players Lucas "DiasLucasBr" Dias.
After losing a match to Japanese Rainbow Six team CAG Osaka, DiasLucasBr went to X (formerly Twitter) to post a GIF of a nuclear bomb exploding, which was seen as a reference to the atomic bombings in Japan during World War II.
The post had spread like wildfire and was heavily criticized by the community before Honda, a Japanese automotive company, axed its deal with Team Liquid.
"After much consideration, AHM has decided to terminate its sponsorship with the team in question, deeming the conduct to be incompatible with Honda corporate values and unacceptable," Honda said in a statement.
"We deeply apologise for any offense this incident may have caused not only to the esports community, but also to many people in Japan and globally. Honda will continue to support activities that provide positive value to society based on our company philosophy."
Team Liquid also released a statement to confirm Honda's decision to discontinue its partnership, citing that it understands and respects the decision of the company. DiasLucasBr publicly apologized on social media too.