INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
EA became the subject of online scrutiny this week when it was discovered that the gaming giant deleted a reference to Colin Kaepernick on
the soundtrack for Madden 19
The former 49ers quarterback was name-checked by rapper Big Sean on a verse of the YG song &Big Bank,& only to have the mention deleted
The track includes the line, &You boys all cap, I&m more Colin Kaepernick.&
The move was noted on Twitter this week and amplified by radio
host (and Kaepernick girlfriend) Nessa Diab, along with Big Sean himself
The latter said the reference was deleted &like it was a curse word,& adding, &he not a curse, he a gift! Nobody from my team approved any
of this.&
Oh!!!!! @EAMaddenNFL who told you to edit Colin name out @nfl @NFLPA Curious minds want to know
Thanks Jean for the info!!!
If you guys see more shady stuff send it over
https://t.co/EIBQbaQ5SA
— NESSA (@nessnitty) August 2, 2018
Kaepernick became a leading figure in the Black Lives Matter movement after
sitting and later kneeling during the National Anthem as a form of protest against black deaths at the hands of police officers
A number of NFL players have since followed suit, leading Donald Trump to call for the firing of players over on-field protests.
Hey Sean,
no doubt we messed up here
We look forward to making it right
pic.twitter.com/taFXQ7UwBA
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) August 3, 2018
In a statement to TechCrunch, EA called the deletion &an
unfortunate mistake,& chalking up the move to confusion of relating to player rights:
We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL
Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don&t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn&t affect
soundtracks.We messed up, and the edit should never have happened.We will make it right, with an update to Madden NFL 19 on August 6 that
will include the reference again.We meant no disrespect, and we apologize to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and
our players for this mistake.
NBC Sports notes, however, that this is apparently not the first timeKaepernick name has been removed from a
While the player likeness appeared in last year version of the game, his name was apparently also removed from theMike WiLL Made-It track,
