The core of it is simply that the person who was head of Freenode staff at the time (an employee of Lee's, also) sold something to Lee that was not hers to sell

The core of it is simply that the person who was head of Freenode staff at the time (an employee of Lee's, also) sold something to Lee that was not hers to sell. After promises from Lee to not interfere, the staff later found out this was not the case and left to create a new home for the projects hosted on Freenode. Whether those projects move is entirely up to them.