Whistleblower Takes Aim at Galaxy Racer in Mass Email

Credit: Galaxy Racer

An email sent Monday to Dubai-based Galaxy Racer’s top executives—including CEO Paul Roy and Chief of Staff Walid Singer, media outlets, GXR employees, and North American investors (Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park, and R/GA Ventures) claims that the company is six weeks behind in paying staff in North America (which includes Galaxy Racer NA and Her Galaxy), and that employees have been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Citing The Esports Advocate’s previous reporting on the situation with Her Galaxy and Galaxy Racer North America, the whistleblower further alleges that vendors in North America and content creators (under the GXR Elite label) have also not been paid for their work in months and that men are being prioritized over women when people do get paid.

A separate source pointed us to vendors in other regions such as Swipe Right PR and tournament organizer WePlay that are allegedly owed money for past work.

Further, the whistleblower claims in their email that popular YouTube star and influencer Noor Stars is owed $1M for brand deals going back to 2022, and that its top team Nigma Galaxy is owed $5M in back payments.

TEA has confirmed that the email’s author has intimate, insider knowledge of the inner workings of the company’s North American operations, and indicates in the email that they are part of a group of employees allegedly owed back pay. Further, they corroborate many of the things we have been told by other sources over the last several months in several regions including North America, India, and Europe. Sources with knowledge of the situation (who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation) have been telling TEA for months that content creators under the company’s GXR Elite content creator brand are owed thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in back payments that are delayed by months, with some claiming that payments are three to eight months behind.

Further, sources in India and North America from our previous reporting on Galaxy Racer (you can read that reporting here and here), have independently corroborated that the company is often multiple months behind on payments.

It should be noted that the investors who were sent the email are tied to Her Galaxy and its inclusion in the Trailblazer Venture Studio accelerator program, announced in September of 2022. The Trailblazer Venture Studio program is backed by Billie Jean King Enterprises, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Elysian Park Ventures, and R/GA Ventures. The initiative, according to its website, aims to do the following:

“The Trailblazer Venture Studio focuses on the biggest growth opportunity in sports: women. We partner with entrepreneurs and companies—from early-stage startups to later-stage businesses—that put women leaders, athletes, and fans first. Collaboration lies at the heart of this work. Let’s build together.”

A source tells TEA that investors involved in this venture have been aware of the situation at Her Galaxy/Galaxy Racer NA, but have yet to intervene in any way, despite operating an initiative that is designed to empower and support women.

TEA reached out to Galaxy Racer, Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, R/GA Ventures, Swipe Right PR, WePlay, Nigma Galaxy, and Noor Stars prior to the publication of this story.

A Galaxy Racer representative proposed having an off-the-record conversation with us earlier this week but we declined that offer; instead, we afforded them an opportunity to respond on the record. The company did not provide any comment at the time of writing.

A Nigma Galaxy spokesperson told TEA on Wednesday morning via email:

“We can confirm that there are no lawsuits from Nigma Galaxy against GXR.”

Nigma Galaxy did not respond to a follow-up question on whether GXR owes the company $5M in back payments as alleged by the whistleblower.

Noor Stars, Swipe Right PR, WePlay, Billie Jean King Enterprises, Elysian Park Ventures, and R/GA Ventures did not respond to our requests for comment at the time of writing.

Earlier in the week, following the email being sent, Galaxy Racer categorically denied all of the accusations in the email in an emailed statement. TEA has included both the original email and the company’s follow-up statement below—in the interest of fairness:

Mass Email to Media, Investors, and GXR Management

GXR UPDATE

I am writing this letter anonymously because once Galaxy Racer and Paul Roy stopped paying us on time, with delays of 6 weeks, they made us sign NDA’s to keep quiet on what really goes on in this workplace.

As of today we are 6 weeks behind on pay again. Everyone is paying their own health care with no reimbursement. Vendors haven’t been paid. Creators haven’t been paid.

They are targeting women laying off only 5 people all women and then silencing them with NDA’s. If you had not heard about this and employees again quietly coming forward here is the article.

https://esportsadvocate.net/2023/07/exclusive-her-galaxy-troubles/

They are also taking funds and giving special privilege to the men some months and paying them while the women have to wait.

As investors in Galaxy Racer, I am shocked that companies like you, Elysian Park, R/GA, and Billie Jean King would allow such treatment of women and men. Working overtime and weekends to put on a tournament when we were never being paid and were weeks behind in pay. Lies and lies of the money is coming, keep working. This is abuse in the United States. Please media these investors are copied on this email-tell me why are they doing nothing about this?

People on our teams are having babies and worried about pay and if their health care will ever be paid. This is the United States of America. This is not Dubai. I can not believe you have tried to silence us all, make us work and not pay us. There is no HR department as she is not paid either so she won’t respond to us. There has been no CEO since last year either she left to supposedly do something with the global team.

As of today we are once again owed 6 weeks of pay. Promises the money is coming but it never does. No signs of health care reimbursement yet they continue to publish news of their mergers, and signing new talent.

I also discovered that Noor Stars, their top influencer, is owed over $1million in brand campaigns that were never paid to her. They have of course silenced and ignored her.

I also discovered Nigma Galaxy, their top team, is suing them being owed over $5 million. I also discovered this is not just a problem in the USA, this is happening all over the world. In fact I have vendors in my linkedin from around the world saying Paul Roy owes them money.

None of this is made up or [from] a disgruntled employee. I am copying all of the people who work for GXRNA, investors, creators and the media contacts I have in hope that some humanity can be restored and everyone can be paid what they are owed as I am speaking to a class action lawsuit attorney.

GXR Official Response:

We are writing to address an email that has been sent earlier today [Monday, Sept. 11] which makes some very serious and false allegations against Galaxy Racer and our Founder and CEO, Paul Roy. We wish to clarify our stance on the claims made in this email and provide accurate information to all our stakeholders.

•         Allegations: We explicitly refute all the allegations and claims made in the email.
•         Our Commitment to Equal Rights: At Galaxy Racer, equal rights are at the forefront of our values. We unequivocally reject any allegations of discrimination, especially on the basis of gender. We are proud to be the leading supporter and investor globally of initiatives that promote gender equality in the esports industry.
•         Team Well-being and Performance: We can confidently state that our North American team is enthusiastically working towards their set objectives and KPIs in a structured and focused manner.
•         Investigation Underway: We are deeply concerned about the origin and intentions behind the email in question. We have initiated a thorough internal and external investigation to determine its source and ascertain if there were any breaches of our data security by current or former employees and/or contractors.
•         Potential Security Risks: Please note that this email has been flagged as a phishing attempt by Google’s security systems.
•         Contact Us Directly: For further inquiries or to request additional information regarding this matter, please contact us directly at inquiries@galaxyracer.gg. Our team will promptly assist you and, if necessary, arrange a call or meeting to discuss any concerns.

We appreciate your understanding and continued trust in Galaxy Racer. Our commitment to maintaining an inclusive and transparent working environment remains unwavering.

Galaxy Racer

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available… If you are a contractor, employee, vendor, tournament participant, or content creator who has worked with GXR and you would like to tell your story, please reach out to jfudge@esportsadvocate.net.