LA Times Jumps On Twitter Debate, Immediately Regrets That Decision

The Los Angeles Times has found out the hard way that tweeting during a Twitter debate should sometimes be left alone. The publication’s tweet has sparked accusation of racism and comparing a person to an animal.

As B&T reported yesterday, Serena Williams won Sports Illustrated’s Sportperson Of The Year for her amazing year both on and off the tennis court. Some people were angry that racehorse American Pharoah didn’t take out the crown, especially since the horse won the online poll.

The Los Angeles Times, in an attempt to cover the controversy, only made matters worse by tweeting:

Serena Williams or American Pharoah: Who’s the real sportsperson of 2015? Vote in our poll https://t.co/l4A51SPUlP pic.twitter.com/dssxaGFbAn
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 14, 2015

Twitter’s backlash was harsh and fast, here’s just a snippet of the response:

@latimes Well given that horses aren’t people I’m going to have to go with the actual athletic woman who was given the Sportsperson award.
— SaucissonSec (@saucissonsec) December 14, 2015

@latimes I mean are you seriously asking who is a better person — a black woman or a horse? Is that really what you want to be saying here?
— SaucissonSec (@saucissonsec) December 14, 2015

……. @latimes
— roxane gay (@rgay) December 14, 2015

@rgay @latimes Sorry, for #latimes. Who thought that was a good idea?
— Keith Welch (@Outraged_Poet) December 14, 2015

.@latimes your account has been hacked
— Seantoshi Nakamoto (@seanbonner) December 14, 2015

. @latimes you still have a poll comparing a woman to a horse. How sensitive is that? Take it down if you are sensitive at all.
— Stacy Pippi Hammon (@Pippsta) December 14, 2015

@latimes Perhaps the editor of this rag was raised by a horse or such animal that they don’t know the difference between people and animals!
— aspirational12 (@aspirational12) December 14, 2015

Reaction to this @latimes tweet: (oh boy) https://t.co/tTipm7FgiA pic.twitter.com/ZEGUx3vewu
— Shefali S. Kulkarni (@shefalikulkarni) December 14, 2015

@latimes what is wrong with you? How could you think this was a good idea?
— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) December 15, 2015

.@latimes this is an incredibly ill-advised, tasteless poll. do you realize what you’re doing here?
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 14, 2015

TheTimes hasn’t deleted the tweet. It has changed the headline to “Are fans right to be upset that Serena Williams beat American Pharoah for SI Sportsperson of the Year?”

They also issued a tweet apologising:

@latimes We’ve changed the headline and photo on this story to treat it with greater sensitivity. Thank you for your feedback.
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 14, 2015

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