Former Marathon Reboot director Chris Barrett was reportedly fired by Sony earlier in 2024 after an internal investigation allegedly found him guilty of inappropriate behavior against female colleagues. Bloomberg at that time spoke with eight women working in the studio who claimed Barrett sent them messages that blurred professional and personal lines.
By December of that year, it was reported that Barrett had dragged Sony to court for “deliberately dstroy[ing his] reputation by falsely, and publicly, insinuating they had ‘investigated Barret and ‘found’ he had engaged in sexual misconduct”.
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Barret had claimed that the only reason Sony took the decision was to avoid paying him a $45 million royalty. In the court papers, Barret’s lawyers suggested Sony “did not care that none of it was true; they had blatant motivations from their brazen scheme [to] shift blame for and deflect attention away from their massive business failures”.
In the latest statement from Sony, the PlayStation maker alleged its internal investigation had unveiled “consistent” misconduct where Barrett would target “lower-level, female employee he wasn’t working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries”.
Sony highlighted how Barrett often referenced his wealth and position to his colleagues insinuating he could help advance their careers. As seen in Game File, Sony has fired back at Barrett’s claims.
“The investigation revealed that Barrett’s misconduct with each employee was consistent: he targeted a lower-level, female employee he wasn’t working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries with the employee by making subtle references to her physical appearance or expressing his interest romantically,” Sony said in the statement.
“Barrett attempted to create an unprofessional level of intimacy with his victims. He requested to follow personal Instagram accounts and would express anger to the women if they failed to respond to his messages. He would bring up inappropriate topics like their body, their relationships, his marriage, or his desire to date them.
“He would demand that they participate in sexually charged games of ‘Truth or Dare’ and ‘Ask Me Anything’. He texted them at all hours of the day and night. He offered to buy them gifts. He often referenced his wealth and his ability to advance their careers.
“Barrett’s predatory behaviour caused victims to seek guidance from other Bungie employees on how to manage Barrett’s constant boundary-pushing given that he was a long-standing, senior member of the company. Multiple victims reported to Human Resources during the investigation that they were afraid for their jobs during these encounters.”
Barrett’s legal representatives again fire back at Sony
Former Marathon Reboot director Chris Barrett
After the report by Stephen Totilo in Game File went live, Barrett’s legal representatives put out another statement that denounced all the claims by Sony and maintained the innocence of their clients.
“Sony continues to disingenuously cherry-pick text messages and alleged conversations and make unsupported and conclusory statements to defame Christopher and justify terminating him to avoid paying him what he was owed under his employment agreements,” said Barrett’s legal team.
“It is telling that Sony does not include the full text messages as exhibits, or the full content of these conversations, and nothing in Sony’s response provides a legitimate legal or factual basis to terminate Christopher for cause.
“Christopher is confident that when all the evidence is presented, it will be clear that Sony engaged in a scheme to strip him of his role and the equity awards he earned for his 25 years of loyal service to the company.”
