Hockey Team Apologizes for Accidental Reference to Jan. 6 in Now-Deleted Tweet
A minor league hockey team has issued an apology after a now-deleted tweet was misinterpreted as a reference to the January 6 riot at the Capitol building.
The Cincinnati Cyclones, an affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers, posted a video to promote its upcoming “Throwback Night.” On that day, the Cyclones will wear red throwback jerseys. The video showed Cyclones forward Justin Vaive wearing his jersey on the ice.
“We don’t care, we paint the town red (on January 6),” the caption read in the tweet.
Feel bad for admin but this is objectively hilarious. https://t.co/Ri23MJ7XkK pic.twitter.com/EihVrVI7mx
— Keg. (@GratefulKeg) December 27, 2023
The caption was a reference to the song “Paint The Town Red” by rapper Doja Cat. Shortly after the tweet was published, however, some users couldn’t help but notice the tweet could easily be interpreted as a reference to the Capital riot instead. The team acknowledged the growing narrative and deleted the tweet.
In a statement published the next day, the team clarified that it was only referencing the song to promote the return of the old jerseys.
“Last night we shared a video of our red warm-up jerseys with lyrics to a trending song,” the statement said. “The tweet was meant to hype people up for our Throwback Night, where we will wear retro inspired jerseys.
“Our Throwback Night is traditionally held on the first weekend of January. This night and these jerseys are in no way a political statement.”
— Cincinnati Cyclones (@CincyCyclones) December 27, 2023
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