I feel bad for Magnus. It looks like the CEO of chess.com totally played him.

Chess.com sponsors and owns so much of the Chess community.

They have more power and influence than even FIDE over the players IMO.

- GM sponsors? Chess.com money.

- Chess streamers? Chess.com money.

Magnus joining forces in a more professional setting via the acquisition created a serious conflict of interest.

Not a perfect example, but imagine if Lebron James was on the board of the NBA while playing for the Lakers...

It just becomes too easy for things to spiral.

How I see it, chess.com's "timed banned", "the report" and "the CEO reddit comments" fueled a fire that didn't need it to support their guy.