Editing Smasher:Hax

'''Hax$''' (pronounced "Hax Money"), informally known as '''Hax''', is a ''[[Melee]]'' player based in Manhattan. He used to solo [[main]] {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} with the [[Alternate costume (SSBM)#Captain Falcon|pink costume]] (commonly known as Captain Fabulous); however, in early 2014, he switched to solo maining {{SSBM|Fox}}, and was widely regarded as the most technical Fox player when he was still active. In April 2016, he went on a indefinite hiatus due to having a calcified FCU tendon, which was left untreated because no surgeon was willing to remove it. During this hiatus, he began working on the [[B0XX]], a controller designed in a similar vein to the Smash Box by Hitbox, after having tested the Smash Box and finding it unsatisfactory. He has also slowly made a return to competitive ''Melee'' as of March 2017, having finally been treated for his hand problems. He would attend various ''Melee'' events showcasing the potential of the B0XX, and spent a long time balancing it to be as fair to a GameCube controller as possible. By 2019, he was considered to be playing at a level similar to when he played on a GameCube controller.

As of February  1, 2024, Hax$ has been permanently banned from tournaments due to repeated slanderous and conspiratorial accusations made towards {{Sm|Leffen}}, and other community members, with Hax's persistent reinforcement of these statements, multiple instances of inciting harassment, failing to take sufficient accountability for his actions, and refusing to abide by the terms of his return to local events.<ref name="Hax Permanent Ban">{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dg-R86Zz_toB3EbfvGCJ4wvJTwyQyRlunCh-P1_HCV0/edit|title=Hax's Permanent ban}}</ref> In addition to allegations of doxxing<ref name="Willy P personal statement" /> and stalking.<ref name="DarkGenex Document" />

The video drew massive derision and backlash from the community, believing the accusations to be without merit or proof, with many in particular condemning Hax's choice to analogize Leffen to political figures such as Adolf Hitler and accuse him of trying to establish a "totalitarian regime". Nevertheless, there is also a small group who claim that Hax's video has merit, if not tainted in overly dramatic language and comparisons, and they claim the community has a history of being overly forgiving of its best players as a reason to not entirely dismiss Hax's accusations. Leffen himself posted that he was unsure of his next course of action and would be speaking to a lawyer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TSM_Leffen/status/1401031413143642112|title=Leffen on Hax's post}}</ref> Hax would eventually private the video, which has since been reuploaded by multiple smaller channels.

PracticalTAS published a [https://twitter.com/PracticalTAS/status/1401392261502545922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1401392261502545922%7Ctwgr%5E477ad97038a6e68b5916fda8d6f98ab8bd66ce62%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fntf2s0%2F%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dtrue summary, analysis, and commentary] of Hax's 136-page PDF file into a 12-page document, plus a 4-page addendum, on June 6th.<ref>[https://twitter.com/PracticalTAS/status/1401392261502545922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1401392261502545922%7Ctwgr%5E477ad97038a6e68b5916fda8d6f98ab8bd66ce62%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fntf2s0%2F%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dtrue PracticalTAS summary, analysis, and commentary of Evidence.zip 2.pdf]</ref> He concluded that the majority of claims in the document were unreasonable, remarking that though Leffen had a history of aggressive social media behavior, his actions were the norm for a player of his fame and prowess, and criticized Hax for attempting to psychologically profile Leffen despite having no authority to do so.

===Cody Schwab conflict===

On June 21st, 2021, {{Sm|Cody Schwab}}, formerly known as iBDW, accused Hax for downplaying and making fun of Cody's story of being sexually assaulted by his own mother.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/iBDWSSBM/status/1407082926337150976|title=iBDW's initial post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sro2d0|title=TwitLonger — @iBDWSSBM: Hax's Rebuttal}}</ref> Cody also tweeted that he attempted to retrieve evidence to support his claims from Facebook messages, but that Hax had deleted the relevant messages.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/iBDWSSBM/status/1407774396656324611|title=iBDW saying Hax deleted Facebook messages}}</ref> Hax responded in a series of now-deleted Tweets, accusing Cody for faking the story in order to gain Hax's sympathy as well as taking his comment out-of-context.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/cr4nMjM|title=Hax's response, archived}}</ref>

Due to both the Cody and Leffen controversies, on June 21st, {{Sm|Tiramisu}} announced that Hax was banned from the Melee Online Discord server.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SSBM_tiramisu/status/1407140198048219137|title=Hax's online ban}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/14336/hax-banned-from-melee-online-after-mocking-ibdws-story-of-abuse|title=Hax banned from Melee Online after mocking Cody's story of abuse}}</ref>  

Following the accusation and ban, as well as the evidence.zip 2 controversy, Hax posted a TwitLonger on June 23rd, in which he apologized on how he handled both controversies and claimed to "exonerate" himself from Cody's claims.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sro2bu|title=TwitLonger — @ssbmhax: Apology, self-imposed hiatus, and exoneration from @iBDWSSBM's claims|accessdate=2021-06-23|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20210623181226/https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sro2bu|archivedate=2021-06-23}}</ref> However, he refused to backtrack on any of the accusations made to both Leffen and Cody. In particular, he reiterated how Cody falsified many parts of his story in order to salvage their decaying friendship, and after that failed, Cody went on to make several defamatory statements on Hax to try and ruin his reputation. Hax concluded the TwitLonger by once again apologizing for his behavior within the last few months and stating that he was willing to ban himself for 3 months due to how he initially handled Cody's accusations. Hax then posted a second TwitLonger a few hours later, in which he further responded to Cody's rebuttal, paragraph by paragraph.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sro2ju|title=TwitLonger — @ssbmhax: Response to @iBDWSSBM's TwitLonger|accessdate=2021-06-23|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20210623224625/https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sro2ju|archivedate=2021-06-23}}</ref> Hax concluded this TwitLonger by asking Cody to both contact him in private and dismiss his claims against him, lest he take legal action against him.

Within an hour of posting the second TwitLonger, Hax deleted his tweets that linked to both of the TwitLongers he had posted that day. He then tweeted that he would take a hiatus, saying he didn't find it possible to continue discussing the controversies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1407844466984161281|title=Hax beginning a hiatus}}</ref> In the tweet, he also apologized to the community and reiterated his request for Cody to contact him. The next day, Cody revealed in a Twitter thread that the two indeed talked in private and were now mostly on the same page, noting that Hax is "clearly not cool with sexual assault/incest."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/iBDWSSBM/status/1408141235253039109|title=iBDW's thread addressing his private conversation with Hax}}</ref> Hax also returned to Twitter to post about the conversation, apologizing to Cody, whom he called "a good man," and the community while also limiting his guilt to certain comments he made in his own Discord server.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1408153929456705538|title=Hax's statement on his conversation with iBDW}}</ref>

In June 2021, on the same day as Cody's final announcement, several TOs from many US states signed a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qrO5TlLztX-9s7cI78_EfWNepIaHkwVa3379mC_glrw/edit document] that banned Hax from their tournaments,<ref name="Hax Ban">{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qrO5TlLztX-9s7cI78_EfWNepIaHkwVa3379mC_glrw/edit|title=Hax's indefinite ban}}</ref> and his name was added to the Global Ban Database,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gamerant.com/super-smash-bros-hax-banned-multiple-tournaments/|title=Super Smash Bros. Pro Player Hax Banned by Multiple Tournaments}}</ref> and then later to it's successor the [[Community Safety Resource Project]]'s Restricted Player Registry.<ref>[https://www.communitysafetyproject.org/restricted-player-register Hax on the Restricted Player Registry]</ref> The ban was made using the previous [[SSB Code of Conduct Panel]]'s 2.2.1 (Level 2) and 2.2.3 (Level 3) offences and was deemed indefinite. The document iterated that Hax's accusations were baseless, particularly comparing Leffen's presence as a totalitarian regime, the belief that Leffen solely called out ZeRo for personal gain, and saying that Leffen would prefer ZeRo was dead following his suicide attempt, and that Hax's calls to deplatform Leffen constituted incitement for harassment. The TOs argued Hax's refusal to recant the statements and double down, only deeming the flaws as "tactical errors", were signs of malicious intent on Hax's part, and thus constituted an indefinite ban from events.

As of February 1, 2024, Hax$ has been permanently banned due to repeated infractions.<ref name="Hax Permanent Ban" />

On August 14th, 2021, Hax released another revision to his video called [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msy4E3ScZVk Evidence.zip 3]. In the video, which has since been privated and archived on a separate channel,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msy4E3ScZVk&t=6s&ab_channel=Hax%24Archive Evidence.zip 3: The Last Hope for Smash reuplouded]</ref> he accuses Leffen of creating social engineering campaigns against multiple players, such as {{Sm|Hungrybox}} and Hax himself. The video also reiterates multiple allegations from "evidence.zip 2", such as character profiles from the original "evidence.zip" and alleged harassment levied towards Hax himself. Hax alleges that Leffen deleted 6 years worth of tweets in response to his evidence.zip 2 video, as well as being lawyer-bluffed. Hax also criticises his global ban from the scene, saying that his accusations had evidence and were not libelous or defamatory as his ban statement claimed, as well as claiming that his ban was hypocritical when doing nothing in regards to Leffen.

The video was criticised primarily for the same reasons as "evidence.zip 2", with onlookers expressing skepticism for a myriad of Hax's claims. Many argued that Hax's videos were indeed defamatory, with them believing that the claims and motives are out of character or even extreme. Others have criticised Hax for repeatedly using the original evidence.zip, believing that Leffen has changed and the antiquated nature of the document makes it questionable to cite. Finally, the video was criticised for comparing Leffen to Donald Trump as an allegory to paint the former as "totalitarian". Several community members also criticized Hax for getting more people involved in the controversy regardless of their relevance to the situation and therefore making them prone to harassment, most notably Samox. Nevertheless, some chose to side with Hax, particularly those who are fans of Technicals who believe that there is precedent for Leffen manipulating situations for his own benefit, as well as believing that Hax should not have been punished at all for his videos and public statements.

On August 29th 2021, Hax released another video contesting his ban from the scene,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9JhFRMsfM0 Hax - Public Appeal to My Ban from SSBM Tournaments]</ref> which directly addresses a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hvwt27rktDHq4jlExKoqts7VIh4GAuI6Dx2ZjIfnAFc/edit document]  by Mikey outlining the reasons for his ban.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hvwt27rktDHq4jlExKoqts7VIh4GAuI6Dx2ZjIfnAFc/edit Mikey's document explaining the reasons for Hax's ban]</ref> He criticized the statement for saying there was no evidence to back his allegations and for being overly generous to Leffen overall, and argues that the very logic used to justify his ban could be used to justify banning Leffen for his interactions with Hungrybox alone. The ban appeal was later unlisted and archived on a separate channel.

 

On January 1st, 2023, Hax was [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_qBOMKYLdtPKXrnqoQZ2w8wiaHPNbv2O9J2fK-vvkEs/edit probationally unbanned] from NYC Melee after agreeing to only appeal to be unbanned in private with TOs, among other clauses.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_qBOMKYLdtPKXrnqoQZ2w8wiaHPNbv2O9J2fK-vvkEs/edit Hax's Probationary partial Unban ]</ref> Outside of NYC Melee Hax would be unbanned on the discretion of the individual TOs and Organizations, in which Hax would attend several majors and regionals outside of NYC Melee.

 

 

 

On January 27, Willy P, the head TO of NYC Melee, made a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjv20zx1279TcGaQGMeLvu1iz_MLwpe82MCV9Z0Kzkg/edit personal statement] regarding Hax's ban.<ref name="Willy P personal statement">{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yjv20zx1279TcGaQGMeLvu1iz_MLwpe82MCV9Z0Kzkg/edit|title=Willy P personal statement}}</ref> He states that they ignored his first ban appeal video, despite it violating the unban agreement, as they initially saw it as a legitimate sign of improvement and accepting responsibility. However, they decided to take action after the second one due to it revealing personal information he was not granted permission to disclose, whilst repeating many of the statements about Leffen that prompted his ban and removing videos in which he apologizes to him. Willy P also criticized Hax for not listening to the people who encouraged him to speak to TOs privately instead of posting his arguments out in the open. He stated that this was a sign that Hax had not actually improved or accepted responsibility, and was unlikely to do so with such flagrant disregard for the rules, so as such NYC Melee voted unanimously to ban him.

On February 1, 2024, TOs signed a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dg-R86Zz_toB3EbfvGCJ4wvJTwyQyRlunCh-P1_HCV0/edit new statement] announcing that Hax was permanently banned, for multiple instances of inciting harassment, failing to take sufficient accountability for his actions, doubling down when confronted, and refusing to abide by the terms of his return to local events.<ref name="Hax Permanent Ban" />

On 7th March 2024, Hax$ released another apology video<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_--ksDQd2c Apology to Leffen, My Friends, and the Melee Community]</ref> where he apologises to Leffen and deemed his past behaviour "self-destructive" and discusses his previous relapses and decision-making, believing that none of what he did was honourable and was arguably an orchestrated harassment campaign. {{Sm|Mew2King}} notably requested unbanning of Hax$ on the basis of his own harassers not being banned at all, and in June 2024, went on to make a video on the matter.<ref>[https://youtu.be/_httcMT7Ri0 Mew2King video]</ref> On May 13, 2024, Hax made another video requesting to be unbanned at some point in the future.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VliN-J-K10&ab_channel=AzizAl-Yami Regarding My Ban]</ref> This video would later be unlisted. Willy P went on to post private messages he exchanged with Hax on Twitter, arguing that there were incongruities between Hax's public remarks and his private ones.<ref>[https://twitter.com/willypNYC/status/1794122939912114638 Willy P private messages with Hax]</ref>

On 24th March 2024, Mikey would [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Ufce5V47RV8K5JuwA5PDczbDUJDT10_ETaRaEAizdA/edit elaborate on the ban] stating in November of 2023 that TOs discussed Hax's ban with ultimately TOs not forming a consensus causing some TOs to unban him and others to keep the ban. One of the major points of contention for unbanning Hax was in private with TOs he says Hax would repeatedly defend his allegations even after he publically apologized for them. Mikey believed Hax should be unbanned if he stopped inciting harassment, with Mikey claiming the main harm Hax caused was through his following harassing community members. After Hax restated his claims publically, even after being warned about doing so, justified a permanent ban. Mikey would also refute some claims that he says are promoted by "Drama Youtubers", who he claims are exploiting the situation for their own benefit, where Mikey refutes the idea that he personally was the one primarily responsible for banning Hax, stating it was unanimously agreed upon by TOs. Furthermore, he states the ban is unambiguously permanent, where any future ban appeals would not effect the current ban.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Ufce5V47RV8K5JuwA5PDczbDUJDT10_ETaRaEAizdA/edit Mikey's document elaboration on the perma ban]</ref>

On 30th May 2024, {{Sm|DarkGenex}} released a [https://imgur.com/a/hax-archive-do92DT4 document] regarding Hax's ban, detailing, among other things, a bipolar disorder diagnosis, hospitalisation, and suicide attempts, coming from his failed ban appeals. Additionally, DarkGenex recounted private handlings of Hax's ban, where Hax is shown to have harassed multiple TOs, including going to a post-venue bar to try and appeal his ban. Furthermore, Hax refused help from his friends with moving on to the next stage of his life, believing the only way forward is through being unbanned to fix his mental, social, and financial stability.<ref name="DarkGenex Document">{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/hax-archive-do92DT4|title=DarkGenex Re: Hax & Mental Health Document}}</ref><ref>[https://x.com/CrispBit/status/1796219316565639316?t=jR6bokuO3rDLcKzWBakECA&s=19 Further corroboration of DarkGenex document and added details]</ref> <ref>[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jHUTly72RUao3APv2AN550Lk2UrGwKaeLUaCBerzRGA/edit?usp=drivesdk Hax & Mental Health Document original link]</ref>

The document would be made private in response to Hax's mother threatening a lawsuit, although Hax would say he supported DarkGenex publicizing it, stating It was a misunderstanding and the matter was resolved.<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1798048376090746980 Hax defending DarkGenex and confirming the document's authenticity]</ref>

The revelations of Hax's mental health troubles prompted renewed discussion on relieving Hax of his ban. Several statements Hax has made on X have also been seen by the community as signs of Hax's deteriorating mental health, including being "fucked in life"<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1823363722615611812 Hax - "I’m genuinely fucked in life at this point, as I made all of my lifelong friends through it and so it’s impossible to rebuild."]</ref>, being "stranded from society"<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1822164920990941587 Hax - "For the past 6 months, my mother and I have been completely stranded from society." and "I’ve been hospitalized 4 times due to the stress I’m under causing me to repeatedly faint."</ref>, saying "Every passing day is worse than the last"<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1796521475463418156 Hax - "Every passing day is worse than the last. I lose friends,  I lose my sanity, and I lose income."]</ref>, being left with "no future"<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1804597168679891300 Hax - "Please understand that a permanent ban effectively removes me from society and leaves me with no future."]</ref>, and describing his situation as being "akin to death"<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/17965214754634181564 Hax - "The situation I'm in is akin to death, and it can only be salvaged with a "reset" on the ban situation. I beg for mercy in this time of need."]</ref>. Zain notably [https://twitter.com/ZainNaghmi/status/1804549730665459978 criticized] the "FreeHax" movement for fueling Hax's dependency on playing competitive ''Melee'', arguing that an unban would fail to address the larger underlying problem.<ref>[https://twitter.com/ZainNaghmi/status/1804549730665459978 Zain's statement]</ref>

On 30th July 2024, Hax$ released a ban appeal video, specifically regarding his perma-ban in January 2024.<ref>[https://youtu.be/0S6LeugSbro?si=SVjwm9UNbgzbNAYz Melee Community Permanent Ban Appeal]</ref> He brought up a claimed issue with getting private responses from TOs regarding how long his indefinite ban would be, due to ambiguity between the 2 year ban and indefinite clause. Due to an inability to get responses, he argued that, despite agreeing to only make ban appeals in private with TOs as per his probational partial unban agreement, his public ban appeals were justified, and that a 6 month ban would have been more justified. Given these factors, Hax deems the ban as "cruel" and that, in spite of his own faults, there were mistakes on both sides. The video was criticized due to Hax citing his original ban statement instead of his new one, and for not understanding what specifically he was banned for.

The day after, {{Sm|Radar}} criticized Hax for still arguing the claims in his initial videos, and continuing to deflect the blame to the TOs and inciting harassment against them.<ref>[https://twitter.com/radarssbm/status/1818430253058212040 Radar's Statement]</ref>. Willy P also posted that Hax has been stalking him in his attempts to get unbanned, such as by camping outside the venue, entering the venue and harassing staff, then refusing to leave, leading to his ban from the venue; circumventing blocks on social media; and finding his way into Willy P's unrelated private work Discord for his students.<ref>[https://twitter.com/willypNYC/status/1819933789549732118 Willy P accusing Hax of stalking him]</ref> <ref name="DarkGenex Document" /> Hax released a follow-up video clarifying points raised, arguing he was not a true repeat offender. He went on to condemn Technicals, the FreeHax movement, and in Hax's words "dramatubers", as well as the harassment his videos incited, and asked to be put on final probation. Hax concluded by declaring his intent to discuss his unban with the proper parties.<ref>[https://youtu.be/cxxbU2r9WsY?si=AGcA3pgJDcnlBJay Permanent Ban Appeal Part 2]</ref> Radar notably criticized Hax for causing his fans to harass him and not trying to defend him, deeming it unfair for how much he tried to help Hax<ref>[https://x.com/radarssbm/status/1818681012110680486 Radar Statement Addendum]</ref>. Both of these videos were unlisted within three weeks of their posting. 

Following these videos, Hax would make several tweets about his ban. On August 1, 2024, he decried his ban as unjust and argued that he was not a threat, declaring he only took drastic measures due to him not getting unbanned when he believed he would. Hax further expressed confusion about being banned due to being "one of the hardest workers when it comes to the longevity of the game".<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1819119452467929579 Hax decrying ban]</ref>

On August 4, Hax responded to the stalking accusations, calling them "defamatory". According to him, he only went inside after spending several minutes outside waiting for 2Saint to confirm he had permission to enter the venue. Hax did confess to circumventing his social media blocks to get messages to Willy P through others, but he denied deliberately joining any private Discord servers, claiming that he merely entered several software engineering Discord communities and came upon Willy P's by chance. He concluded his statement by alleging that Willy failed to appreciate what he had done for him personally, calling him a "coward", though stated he is willing to make amends.<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1820267164131057760 Hax's stalking rebuttal]</ref> Willy P would state that he is still being harassed<ref>[https://twitter.com/willypNYC/status/1819954638075953173 Willy P stating he is still being harassed]</ref> After failing to make amends with NYC Melee, Hax tweeted to them on August 11 asking to reconcile again, hoping they could fix things.<ref>[https://twitter.com/ssbmhax/status/1822599224749359154 Hax asking to reconcile with NYC Melee]</ref> Later, on Oct 24th, Hax would apologies to TO's and the community in general, stating for "distastful choices" and not taking accountability, further stating after self-reflection in the past couple of months he came to the conclusion that it was his own fault where he has ended up currently, and stated he has caused nothing but harm to the community and wasted everyone's time.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLo8eiPad3U&ab_channel=AzizAl-Yami Progress and Appreciation]</ref>