The Cleveland Cavaliers are now admitting they made a “mistake” by broadcasting a promotional video during their NBA playoff game against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night that appeared to make light of domestic violence.
A Cavaliers' promotional video shows a male Cavs fan battering a female Bulls fan: http://t.co/LHk1Dy4A1N pic.twitter.com/eE6zRw0uLN
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 7, 2015
In a 1-minute video that is ostensibly a parody of the classic climax of the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” and a recent United Healthcare commercial, a man and his girlfriend shimmy toward each other in their kitchen as he prepares to gracefully lift her up. But when the man discovers his girlfriend is wearing a Bulls T-shirt, he violently throws her to the ground. “I didn’t know you were a Bull fan,” he mutters dejectedly.
The woman is seen writhing on the floor in pain as the Cavaliers’ tag line “All In” appears on top of her. “When it’s playoff basketball you have to be all in, so don’t make the same mistake she made,” a voiceover says.
At the end of the video, the woman sits next to her boyfriend on the couch, now both wearing “All In” Cavaliers shirts. She is holding a bag of ice to her head and he has his arm around her.
“I thought you were all in,” he says. She replies: “Well I’m all in now, let’s just watch the game.” The man, with a satisfied smile on his face, directly addresses the camera and says: “Go Cavs.”
“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,” the Cavaliers said in a statement on Thursday,
“The Cavaliers organization has a strong and lengthy track record of supporting domestic violence-related causes and efforts. We will continue to proudly work with our regional partners at the Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center in support of their numerous programs to end domestic violence in our country once and for all,” they added. According to Deadspin, the video was removed from the team’s Vimeo page on Thursday.








