In the midst of the Stop Asian Hate movement, the Juventus Women's Soccer team from Italy tweeted an overtly racist photo mocking Asian people.
On Thursday the team tweeted a photo of a player wearing an orange cone like a hat, and pulling their eyes up at the corners. The emojis suggested that gesture as well.
Twitter users did not respond well to any of it.
Some things never change https://t.co/73glMzyWpM— Jeff Yang (@Jeff Yang) 1628192829.0
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear It's 2021 and yet numerous people at Juventus thought this tweet was okay https://t.co/Il7YxMl2YU— David Kent (@David Kent) 1628192439.0
The number of bad decisions made to get here are astounding. 1. You make the face. 2. You put the thing on your he… https://t.co/DtAY4O9W7n— W. Kamau Bell (@W. Kamau Bell) 1628193310.0
i didn't even know you could do asian hate crimes via emoji until this juventus shitstorm. what a formal innovation honestly— Delia Cai (@Delia Cai) 1628196233.0
@delia_cai i don’t think i’ve ever seen that combo before??? innovation indeed— nicole bae (@nicole bae) 1628196639.0
Juventus has deleted the clearly racist tweet. Absolute disgrace anyone thinks this is appropriate never mind funny… https://t.co/GfWfeb9zKV— Anton Toloui (@Anton Toloui) 1628192508.0
i mean it's so damn stupid that i'm mostly depressed for these people that this what they even consider as comedy. lololol sad 4 u— Kimmy The Pooh (@Kimmy The Pooh) 1628193106.0
They have since deleted the tweet and issued an apology:
"We sincerely apologize that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone."
"Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination. #DifferencesMakeTheDifference"
The apology did not help the situation, as many felt it was disingenuous.
Oh look I found the racist bone in @JuventusFCWomen’s body https://t.co/VTvfCKQabx— Jeff Yang (@Jeff Yang) 1628194298.0
@originalspin How you gonna be against racism and actually post this? That's not an undertone, it's an overtone...— Rebecca Gold (@Rebecca Gold) 1628195294.0
@originalspin "Not meant to have any racial undertones"? Wtf? Ah, it's because it's OVERTLY racist... racist overto… https://t.co/0mVYK4c12y— Adrian Scarlett (@Adrian Scarlett) 1628242902.0
@JuventusFCWomen It took a player, a photographer, and a social media person together for the post. It's shocking n… https://t.co/rcjj4Z7gm7— M⭐️⭐️ Shapnik | No Room For Racism (@M⭐️⭐️ Shapnik | No Room For Racism) 1628194059.0
@JuventusFCWomen it’s better to admit that you were in the wrong rather than denying the intention at all. To act a… https://t.co/RLFiskdQy8— あんな🙋♀️ (@あんな🙋♀️) 1628234946.0
@JuventusFCWomen I have some questions: 1) Who suggested that pose? 2) Having taken the photo, why was it kept? 3)… https://t.co/yaJpdk0lAs— Simon Williams (@Simon Williams) 1628194196.0
@JuventusFCWomen Tell us what it meant then. Let's hear it.— Rory. (@Rory.) 1628193397.0
Especially with the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, this microaggression promotes the violence that so many Asian people have experienced over the last year and a half.
Juventus' Twitter apology left us with more questions than answers: Who thought this was okay? How could anyone let this happen? What is the team going to do to hold themselves accountable for their actions?