Today marks the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. Leading up to this very sad anniversary, Kobe’s widow Vanessa Bryant kindly asked the media not to show pictures of the helicopter crash, or post anything that can make the Bryant family uncomfortable.
See her messages below:
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Apparently some didn’t get the memo, and still did some things that can be deemed disrespectful.
USA Today Sports was live tweeting minute-by-minute details of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe and his daughter:
USA Today Sports is live tweeting the details of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe, his daughter and 7 people and I just want to know who thought that was a great idea
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 26, 2021
Someone on the USA Today Sports social team came up with the idea that for the 1 year anniversary of Kobe’s death they should live tweet the helicopter crash.
THEY LITERALLY WENT FULL-ON 9/11 REMEMBRANCE, MINUTE BY MINUTE BREAKDOWN STYLE WITH IT pic.twitter.com/TiJPUFUqHc
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) January 26, 2021
Of course they deleted their tweets after they were hit with a ton of backlash. And apologized:
Earlier tweets shared reporting about the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and 8 others. It was our intent to share new reporting around the day's timeline. Our tweets came with no warning or context. We took down those tweets and regret the insensitivity of the content.
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) January 26, 2021
Twitter reacted:
you don't just come up with the idea to live-tweet a year-old helicopter crash on the fly.
this was a coordinated effort by people at USA Today Sports. they had undoubtedly meetings to plan this out. and no one spoke up to say it was stupid and tone deaf.
fire everyone.
— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) January 26, 2021
I see the USA Today Sports account made quite the choice in remembering Kobe.
— Derek James (@DerekJamesNBA) January 26, 2021
USA Today Sports huddling up for a group reading session at lunch today pic.twitter.com/LR75z1RIzz
— Cass Anderson (@casspa) January 26, 2021
USA Today Sports did exactly what Vanessa begged people not to do. Christ.
— Nia Symone (@NiaOnAir) January 26, 2021
Sometimes cancel culture can take things too far, but this time, they need to strike first.
Might it be time to “cancel” your USA Today subscription. . .
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