You may remember Carson King, the Iowa State University alumn who raised over $1 million for the University of Iowa's Stead Children's Hospital, after he posted a viral sign requesting beer money.
The sign read "Busch Light Supply Needs To Be Replenished Via Venmo."
Soon, King received an influx of Venmos from strangers.
Now, King's Twitter has revealed a racist past and Anheuser-Busch cut ties with him but will still honor their pledge to donate funds to the hospital.
King also apologized.
In 2012, King posted two tweets quoting notoriously racist television program Tosh.0, "racist jokes, one comparing black mothers to gorillas and another making light of black people killed in the holocaust."
Carson King came forward to apologize for those tweets.
"I am so embarrassed and stunned to reflect on what I thought was funny when I was 16 years old. I want to sincerely apologize."
King added:
"Thankfully, high school kids grow up and hopefully become responsible and caring adults."
King also says he does not blame the newspaper for their role in exposing the two racist tweets from 2012.
Carson King, viral 'beer money' fundraiser, apologizes for old, offensive social media postswww.youtube.com
"[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."
Still, people are divided on the issue, especially with both Busch dropping King as Busch has a history with racism themselves.
And The Des Moines Register as the reporter who covered King's stories posted a number of tweets mocking gay marriage and other bigoted content.
The Register issued an official statement.
The Register later confirmed the reporter has since been fired.
The controversy is ongoing, but a boycott of both Anheuser-Busch and The Des Moines Register has been launched based on their decisions.
An adult who consistently makes bigoted statements is one thing. But a teenager who makes bigoted statements, then changes their attitude when they grow up?
Isn't that the goal for dealing with bigotry? Education and growth leading to embracing diversity?
Come on, Anheuser-Busch, it looks like Carson King ticked all those boxes.
*****
Listen to the first season of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!' where we explore the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.
Be sure to subscribe here and never miss an episode.
