Scott Cawthon, the Christian game developer behind the wildly popular horror video game "Five Nights at Freddy's" retired from the game franchise after he was "cancelled" by fans of the game for supporting Republicans, including former President Donald Trump. He is one of the latest victims of cancel culture after his donations to several conservative Republican politicians were revealed.
The Christian Post reported that Cawthon's donations to politicians such as former President Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, first-term Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the last two years, as well as his donations to 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson in 2015 was uncovered through Open Secrets. This revelation caused fans of "Five Nights at Freddy's" to heavily criticize him on Reddit and Twitter, where the game and Cawthon's name became trending topics over the weekend.
The Christian game developer, who first took to Reddit to say he wouldn't apologize for being a pro-life, Christian Republican, has now released a statement saying that he has retired. The announcement comes after the massive backlash he received, during which his private information was leaked and he and his family began receiving death threats, Forbes reported.
Cawthon wrote in a FNAF subreddit that his wife is six weeks pregnant and has been fearful about the discussions online, causing the Christian game developer to take action. He admitted that seeing his pregnant wife "so afraid" truly scared him.
"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," Cawthon wrote. He also defended his decision to support the politicians through the years, highlighting how they were a diverse set of people, including "men, women, white people, black people, Republicans, and Democrats."
"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," the Christian game developer wrote. "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."
On Thursday, Cawthon released a statement on his website announcing his retirement, saying he would no longer be directly involved with "Five Nights At Freddy's" but assured that "someone else will eventually be running the show," who he said would be a person of his choosing who he trusts. He shared how he had a "blessed, fulfilling, and rich career" in which he had been "shown great kindness."
While a lot of people came for Cawthon for his political donations to Republican politicians such as Trump, some have also come to his defense. The Christian game developer has in fact not only donated to politicians but has helped raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital through a 2019 campaign for "Freddy in Space 2." Cawthon hid $500,000 worth of donations throughout the game and announced to the FNAF community to go on a scavenger hunt to find it. Whichever donations they discovered he would donate. The community managed to find all $500,000 donations, which he provided to the children's hospital.
