*Tonight was supposed to be “David Ortiz bobblehead night” at Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees, but the Big Papi giveaway was cancelled just hours before the first pitch because the souvenir has reportedly been deemed racially insensitive.
According to the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham, team president Sam Kennedy saw the bobbleheads for the first time today and was taken aback.
Kennedy said: “It was an inaccurate portrayal of David. It doesn’t really look like David. Number 2, I personally thought it seemed to be an offensive portrayal of him and that the facial features were racially insensitive.”
Kennedy ordered the immediate removal of the bobbleheads and said that every fan with a ticket to Tuesday’s game will receive new ones.
This is apparently the David Ortiz bobblehead deemed unacceptable. Endeavoring to find out why it was. pic.twitter.com/NmNiDBkPLv
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 9, 2016
Images of the bobblehead eventually turned up on Twitter — appearing to show Ortiz with rows of teeth.
The team’s official statement released Tuesday did not include mention of the bobbleheads being “racially insensitive,” but did label them “unacceptable.”
Read below:
A statement from the #RedSox regarding tonight’s David Ortiz bobblehead giveaway: pic.twitter.com/btKRFyvDIE
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) August 9, 2016
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