The NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers are in hot water after showing their new promotional video that also promotes domestic violence.
The list of professional athletes accused, charged, or convicted of domestic violence or abuse is long, which makes it even more stunning to even have to ask, why would the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers decide to promote domestic violence?
In an ill-advised promotional video shown Wednesday on the team’s own jumbotron, a couple is seen at home, recreating a scene from the iconic movie “Dirty Dancing.” As the woman jumps into her partners arms, he sees she’s wearing a jersey for the Chicago Bulls, so instead of catching her, he throws her against the room.
The promo closes with her in a Cleveland jersey, an ice pack on her head, and a voiceover:Â “When it’s playoff basketball time, you have to be ‘ALL IN,’ so don’t make the same mistake she made.”
There are plenty who would like to dismiss this video as a joke, a spoof, “funny,” a parody.
It’s not. It promotes the idea that domestic violence is OK, and that disagreements can and should be solved with violence.
Deadspin, which first reported on the story, notes the Cavaliers have issued an apology, agreeing the video included “content that made light of domestic violence,” and called that a “mistake.”
Domestic violence is a very serious matter and has no place in a parody video that plays in an entertainment venue. We sincerely apologize to those who have been affected by domestic violence for the obvious negative feelings caused by being exposed to this insensitive video.
In response to the Cavaliers’ video, Danielle Matheson at UpRoxx reminds us of “statistics culled from The National Domestic Violence Hotline and the CDC“:
– The number of women murdered every day by a current or former male partner: 3
– The people per minute who are victims of physical violence by an intimate partner: 20 (over 10 million per year)
– 1/4 women, and 1/7 men will experience physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime
– A woman is 70 times more likely to be murdered in the few weeks after leaving her abusive partner than at any other time in the relationship.
– Women ages 18-24 and 25-34 generally experienced the highest rates of intimate partner violence (As a note, Nielsen survey statistics show that 45% of the NBA’s audience is under 35 years old, the youngest audience in mainstream sports)
While there were plenty of people on social media laughing off the Cavaliers’ video, there were plenty who did not:
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Image: Screenshot via Steve McPherson/YouTube
Hat tip: Ahiza Garcia/Talking Points Memo