Earlier today, we brought you evidence Shaquille O’Neal was a 9/11 Truther. A blog post detailing his skepticism about the grisly events on September 11, 2001 posted on his website and shared on his Facebook page seemed to make this entirely clear.
But the offending posts were quickly taken down. After the firestorm the posts created, Shaq has fired the social media firm — Digital Mavericks — and apologized for the snafu.
Here’s the statement from O’Neal, per Deadspin:
This post was insulting and offensive, and I apologize to everyone who came across it. Once I learned that it was on my Facebook page and blog, I ordered it removed and fired the firm that posted it. I am not and never have been a “9/11 truther.” My father served our country and I am immensely proud of the sacrifices people make daily to keep us safe. The events of 9/11 were a horrible tragedy for our nation and it’s a disgrace that anyone would think otherwise.
And the CEO of Digital Mavericks, Matt Argall, released his own statement. In it, he attempts to blame the mistake on a lone individual, who was not working in concert with the company.
Our firm helped manage content for Shaquille O’Neal’s Facebook page and blog. Yesterday, one of our employees posted a link on Mr. O’Neal’s social media that related to the tragic events of 9/11. Mr. O’Neal had no knowledge of the posting. Further, it does not represent the views of Mr. O’Neal, our clients or our organization. We sincerely apologize. We have removed the link from Mr. O’Neal’s social media and no longer manage social media content for him. We are very sensitive to the tragedy of 9/11 and apologize greatly for this post.
So, just to sum up. Someone posted an insulting 9/11 conspiracy theory on Shaq’s personal blog, where it was then shared on his Facebook account. After it created a minor media reaction, Shaq denied he wrote it and fired the media company supposedly keeping track of his online properties. In turn, that media company placed the blame on a single person within their organization, who does not represent the views of the company. They’ve removed the offending passage, and no longer work for Shaq. They also apologized.
TGIF.
(Via Deadspin)
