The controversy stems from an incident at BLAST Spring 2026, where journalists from the Russian outlet "Trusy Raiza" (Ryze's Underwear) approached the player makazze and handed him a watermelon. At first glance, it might seem like a bizarre but harmless prank.
However, the "joke" is rooted in a toxic regional stereotype. In Eastern Europe, people with makazze’s ethnicity or skin tone are often victims of a racist trope that characterizes them as "market vendors" who do nothing but sell fruit and vegetables. By giving him a watermelon, the outlet was leaning directly into this derogatory caricature. It is textbook racism.
Lana, the host for NAVI, addressed the situation:
When you go into the press zone, there are a lot of people standing there asking questions. Makazze didn’t know who they were, and at some point a Russian media outlet “Trusy Raiza“ gave him a watermelon. At first, Drin thought it was some kind of joke and didn’t really understand what was going on, but then he said it was unpleasant.
Basically, it’s a racism-related situation. We’ll see what happens, maybe he won’t even attend tournaments anymore, because this is a serious precedent. But I don’t know yet.