During an NBA playoff game Wednesday evening between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers played a video on the stadium's Jumbotron screen showing a man throwing his girlfriend across the room because she's a Bulls fan, leaving her writhing in pain.
The team apologized in a statement for the video, explaining it was supposed to be a spoof of the classic movie Dirty Dancing. But it triggered a backlash from viewers, who criticized the video for joking about domestic violence.
Apparently the @cavs are ALL IN with domestic violence. Disgusting. http://t.co/PSMA1rjqaL
— Larrold (@Larry_Boa) May 7, 2015
Terrible ad shows husband slamming wife into ground for liking another team. Domestic violence isn't funny. http://t.co/IbitYK301X
— Matthew Facciani (@MatthewFacciani) May 7, 2015
It's difficult to understand what the Cavaliers were thinking with this sketch or how it made it through the many checks it likely had to go through before it ended up on the Jumbotron screen of a professional basketball game. But it did — and it's not funny.
Watch: 9 facts about violence against women everyone should know
(Hat tip: Jon Levine at Mic.)
