Former CEO says he considered suicide after suffering 'social terrorism' from co-workers for views

A former CEO of a video game software company said he considered taking his own life after he was ousted for his tweet praising Texas’ ‘heartbeat’ abortion ban.

John Gibson, a video game developer and ex-CEO of Tripwire Interactive, spoke to Fox Nation’s ‘Tucker Carlson Today‘ this week about suffering ‘social terrorism’ at the hands of his co-workers when he shared his views on the social platform last year. 

Gibson had tweeted his approval of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affirming the Texas Heartbeat Act – which went into effect in September 2021 – banning abortions at the point when a fetal heartbeat is found.

In the days following the tweet, Gibson said he suffered harsh criticism from his co-workers and then was ultimately ousted as CEO of the company.  

Former CEO of Tripwire Interactive John Gibson told Fox Nation’s ‘Tucker Carlson Today’ he considered taking his own life after he was ousted for praising Texas’ ‘heartbeat’ abortion ban

‘Words can hardly convey how crushed I was,’ he told Tucker Carlson this week, adding that things got even worse after he was ousted from the company. 

‘I got depressed. I got, of course, angry, suicidal, not wanting to leave the house,’ Gibson said. ‘It destroyed me, and I have lived through 13 months of hell.’

He told Carlson what he had previously revealed to his wife: ‘I just want to die because I don’t want to live… I don’t want to live in a world that’s this unjust.’ 

Gibson had been with the company he founded for over 20 years and explained that he strived to make both the public and his employees happy. But said he faced harsh criticism from the co-workers he had worked alongside for so long. 

‘I call it social terrorism,’ he said. ‘It is an effort to use fear and intimidation to cause people to change – either hide or pretend that they’re not what they are really, so that they can keep their jobs and keep their status.’ 

The Texas Heartbeat Act – which went into effect on September 1, 2021 – not only bans abortions at the point when a fetal heartbeat is found, but it also allows anyone to file lawsuits against doctors preforming abortions or those assisting women in receiving abortions.

A few days after it went into effect, Gibson tweeted his support for the law.  

‘Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.’

Gibson had tweeted his approval of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affirming the Texas Heartbeat Act – which went into effect in September 2021

In the days following the tweet, Gibson said he suffered harsh criticism from his co-workers and then was ultimately ousted as CEO of the company

He told Carlson what he had previously revealed to his wife: ‘I just want to die because I don’t want to live… I don’t want to live in a world that’s this unjust’

Shipwright Studios – a gaming co-development company who worked with Tripwire responded to the tweet: ‘We cannot in good conscience continue to work with Tripwire under the current leadership structure.’ 

Gibson’s own company then announced on their website that he would no longer be CEO and that his statement does not reflect the values of the company.  

Gibson added that there were others in the company who had similar views as he did on abortion but pointed out that there was only one woman who was ‘fairly senior’ who openly opposed how Gibson was being treated. 

‘They’re afraid to speak up. They don’t want to be next,’ he said. ‘I had one of the other owners of the company — politically we’re very, very aligned. He thinks cancel culture is bad. He thinks abortion is bad. And he said, “Yeah, I don’t want to be canceled next.”