Twitter has permanently suspended Geeks + Gamers founder Jeremy Griggs from the platform after receiving multiple DMCA complaints from Naughty Dog over memes Griggs posted to his account mocking The Last Of Us Part II.
Related: The Last of Us II Story Cutscenes Leak, Partially Confirm Previous 4Chan Rumors
The events leading to his suspension began on June 16th, when Griggs posted a humorous image of Abby, the secondary protagonist of The Last of Us II, with the head of professional wrestler Scott Steiner photoshopped over her, mocking the character’s extremely stocky and muscular build:
This image, and presumably other memes now deleted by Twitter, earned multiple DMCA takedown requests from Naughty Dog, which initially resulted in Griggs’ account being locked.
After his account was unlocked following a forced removal of the ‘offending content,’ Griggs responded by continuing to repost the meme and telling Naughty Dog to “f*** off.”
Before his account had been taken down, Griggs had also posted a thumbnail for an upcoming video on Naughty Dog, further referencing Abby’s strong build and explicitly stating “F*** Naughty Dog.”
Griggs would also use the declarative phrase in his final Tweet before suspension:
Related: Naughty Dog’s VP Neil Druckmann Claims He Cried While Playing The Last of Us Part II
These posts received additional DMCA strikes, which then caused the decisive action against Griggs’ account. Though he has since filed an appeal with Twitter, as of writing, his account remains suspended.
Grigg’s Twitter account is the latest casualty in an ongoing abuse of the DMCA system by Naughty Dog, which the developer has used to shut down discussion, criticism, and even parody of The Last of Us Part II.
Last month, a meme created in Grand Theft Auto V which parodied the now infamous ‘golf club’ scene received a DMCA takedown request, while a separate Metal Gear Rising-inspired parody video received a direct request from a former Naughty Dog employee to Sony asking them to (unsuccessfully) remove the video from the internet.
In April, Griggs was among several YouTubers, including Ryan Kinel and Heel vs Babyface, who received DMCA strikes from Sony for merely mentioning the game on their channels.
Despite having his Twitter account removed, Griggs has not been entirely silenced, as he is currently continuing to upload content through the official Geeks + Gamers YouTube channel, with his latest video discussing a recent scene leak from The Last of Us II.
