Red Sox cancel giveaway after David Ortiz bobbleheads deemed ‘racially insensitive’
"I personally thought it seemed to be an offensive portrayal of him and racially insensitive."
The Red Sox called off a planned giveaway of 15,000 David Ortiz bobbleheads on Tuesday night after deeming them “not appropriate.”
A statement from the #RedSox regarding tonight’s David Ortiz bobblehead giveaway: pic.twitter.com/btKRFyvDIE
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2016
After issuing an official team statement at 1:15 p.m., Red Sox president Sam Kennedy explained his issues with the bobbleheads to Boston Globe reporter Peter Abraham.
“I personally thought it seemed to be an offensive portrayal of him and racially insensitive,” Kennedy noted.
Here’s an image of one of the bobbleheads:
ALERT: For tonight’s @RedSox game, the 1st 15,000 fans will receive a @DavidOrtiz Bobblehead. pic.twitter.com/EKE6BMxAVq
— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) August 9, 2016
Originally scheduled for the first night of a three-game series against the Yankees at Fenway Park on Tuesday, the promotion was postponed. Fans will instead be given instructions on how to eventually receive their David Ortiz bobblehead.
The bobblehead is meant to represent the speech Ortiz gave in 2013 at Fenway Park following the Boston Marathon bombings. In it, Ortiz delivered the famous “this is our [expletive] city” line.
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