Scott Cawthon, creator of the video game franchise Five Nights at Freddy’s, responded to a wave of outrage over the weekend — after fans discovered he has donated to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump — stating, “I’m a Republican, Christian, and pro-life — if I get cancelled, then I get cancelled.”
GameRant reported Sunday that fans of the video game, created by Cawthon, “are concerned and hurt to find out where the money Cawthon makes from the popular horror series is going.”
“Fans who searched for Scott Cawthon on Open Secrets, an index of public political contributions, noticed that the developer has made significant monetary contributions to a number of conservative politicians such as Senator Mitch McConnell and former president Donald J. Trump,” GameRant added.
Fans took to social to express their dismay over Cawthon’s donations to the Republicans, as well as his donation to one Democrat, former representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who they say “is specifically targeting gay and transgender people with her policies,” reports GameRant.
On Monday, Cawthon took to Reddit to respond to the attacks, saying that he will not apologize for his donations and for being a Republican, adding, “If I get cancelled, then I get cancelled.”
“I’ve debated greatly how best to address this, including not addressing it at all, but with so many people from the LGBT community in the fanbase that I love, that’s not an option,” Cawthon explained.
“I’d like to think that the last seven years would have given me the benefit of the doubt in regards to how I try to treat people, but there I was, trending on twitter for being a homophobe, getting doxed, with people threatening to come to my house,” he continued.
“All this because I exercised my right, and my duty, as an American citizen, to vote for and support the candidates who I felt could best run the country, for everyone, and that’s something that I won’t apologize for,” he declared.
Cawthon went on to say that the candidates he has supported include “men, women, white people, black people, republicans, and democrats.”
“I supported Kimberly Klacik in Baltimore because I believed that she really cared for the African American community there and wanted to pull them out of poverty,” he said. “I supported Tulsi Gabbard, a democrat, even though I disagreed with her on several issues, because I felt she would have been a good and fair president.”
Cawthon continued:
And yes, I supported President Trump, because I felt he was the best man to fuel a strong economy and stand up to America’s enemies abroad, of which there are many. Even if there were candidates who had better things to say to the LGBT community directly, and bigger promises to make, I believed that their stances on other issues would have ended up doing much greater harm to those communities than good.
The video game creator added that he believes his explanation is pointless, “as people don’t want to discuss with one another anymore; they want endless apologies and submission.”
“People who are expecting those from me will get neither,” Cawthon affirmed, “I’m a republican. I’m a Christian. I’m pro-life.”
“I believe in God. I also believe in equality, and in science, and in common sense,” he added. “Despite what some may say, all of those things can go together. That’s not an apology or promise to change, it’s the way it’s always been.”
Cawthon concluded by stating that he isn’t afraid of being canceled, because he doesn’t create video games “for the money anymore.”
“If I get cancelled, then I get cancelled,” Cawthon said. “I don’t do this for the money anymore; I do it because I enjoy it. If people think I’m doing more harm than good now, then maybe it’s better that I get cancelled and retire. I would accept that. I’ve had a fulfilling career.”
“Besides, most things that people can take from you are things that never had much value to begin with,” he added.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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