The Des Moines Register newspaper experienced a fierce backlash after it published details of “offensive” tweets that cost an Iowa man an Anheuser-Busch sponsorship and then realized its reporter had twice used the N-word on Twitter.
Carson King, 24, received overnight fame last week through a viral video of him holding a sign soliciting beer money through his Venmo at the annual Iowa State Cyclones and University of Iowa Hawkeye’s football game. King decided to give the money he earned to the University of Iowa’s Stead Children’s Hospital, helping them raise over $1 million with the help of the beer company Anheuser-Busch.
As part of his new fame, the Des Moines Register decided to write a profile of him, which included what they said was a “routine background check.” Reporter Aaron Calvin dug through King’s old tweets and found two from eight years earlier, when King was 16, repeating jokes from a comedy show hosted by Daniel Tosh. The tweets, which King deleted and the Register did not publish in full, were jokes about black people getting killed in the Holocaust and another comparing black mothers to gorillas.
Anheuser-Busch, which had planned to partner with King, then announced they would “have no further association with him.” King held a press conference to give an apology before the newspaper’s article was published. The paper faced immediate backlash online for causing the canceling of the Anheuser-Busch partnership with King.
1-877-424-0225…for anyone that wants to cancel their Des Moines Register subscription. #FTK
— Brandon Freel (@IowaAggie10) September 25, 2019
How Media Covers America vs. Themselves:
– Guy donates $1mm+ to Children’s Hospital.
– @DMRegister finds offensive tweets from when he was 16. Wrecks his life.
– People uncover racist/anti-Semitic tweets from numerous @NYTimes staffers. Nothing happens. https://t.co/HNDKzzG3VL
— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) September 25, 2019
I spent a few minutes trying to find the “offensive tweets” that got Anheuser-Busch to drop King, and I can’t find them. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. It literally doesn’t matter. This is a war. https://t.co/SkE4LUegMf
— Andrew Kloster (@ARKloster) September 25, 2019
The Des Moines Register also felt it was in the public interest to inform Anheuser-Busch about Carson King’s tweets. As a direct consequence of that, they ended their association with King and will ‘have no further association’ https://t.co/06m5nmqfQ5
— Gavlar (@Gavlar) September 25, 2019
SO NOW WE’RE CANCELLING PEOPLE FOR LOVING @danieltosh and sharing his nonsense
FFS
“King said a reporter for the Des Moines Register first called attention to the tweet”
What kind of waste of a life is doing this to a good guy? https://t.co/PnM5RwLpJp
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair ? (@senatorshoshana) September 25, 2019
National reporters and activists furious at the Register over exposing youthful indiscretions went through the reporter’s old tweets and found two instances in which he used the N-word.
“Too many of these [N-word] bitch-made nowadays. Don’t pardon my French,” Calvin said in a tweet from 2011.
“They’d rather give me the ‘[N-word] please’ award. I’d rather have the ‘I got a lot a cheese award.’ Tell it like it is Kanye,” he said in another 2010 tweet.
Anyway — I guess we have to share this again https://t.co/Vj6CmcT51E
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) September 25, 2019
Calvin has since locked his Twitter account. The newspaper released a statement defending its coverage of King while also saying they were looking into and were “aware of reports of inappropriate social media posts” by Calvin and were investigating him.
The Register is aware of reports of inappropriate social media posts by one of our staffers, and an investigation has begun.
— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) September 25, 2019
King defended the newspaper saying it was kind to him and he appreciated his old tweets being pointed out to him.
“The Des Moines Register has been nothing but kind in all of their coverage, and I appreciate the reporter pointing out the post to me,” he said on Twitter Tuesday. “I want everyone to understand that this was my decision to publicly address the posts and apologize. I believe that is the right thing to do.”
The Des Moines Register has been nothing but kind in all of their coverage, and I appreciate the reporter pointing out the post to me. I want everyone to understand that this was my decision to publicly address the posts and apologize. I believe that is the right thing to do.
— Carson King (@CarsonKing2) September 25, 2019
