NBC Blurs ‘OK’ Sign at Chicago Cubs Game – Then Says ‘Not to Jump to Conclusions’

“We are truly in the end of days.”

NBC News blurred an “OK” hand gesture made by a fan during its Tuesday broadcast of a Chicago Cubs baseball game – warning that it was a “white power” sign.

The Cubs sweatshirt-wearing fan adjoined his thumb and index finger behind black NBC Sports analyst Doug Glanville as he was covering the home game against the Miami Marlins. The Cubs on Wednesday announced that the unidentified white man had been “indefinitely” banned from Wrigley Field for his “ignorant and repulsive behavior.”

NBC Sports Chicago added that the man’s action was “reprehensible.”

In its writeup of the controversy on Thursday, NBC News used a still image from the TV broadcast, but it was careful to pixelate the fan’s offending hand. The report said that the man had “appeared to flash a ‘white power’ hand gesture,” which is “often associated with the white supremacist movement.”

Critics of political correctness – having already mocked the initial outrage over the gesture – shook their heads at NBC News’ censorship.

Quillette editor Andy Ngo declared a “hate panic.”

Hate panic: Wrigley Field has permanently banned a @Cubs fan who flashed the “ok” hand symbol on air. NBC censored the symbol. The symbol & its “white supremacy” meaning began as a troll campaign to fool media & leftists. https://t.co/qHAnJgbNs7

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 10, 2019

Right-wing Dodgers fan Joshua Scott said he was boycotting Wrigley Field.

I love baseball so much and have been going to @Dodgers games my entire life. I also like messing with my friends with the “circle game.” This is so sad and so dumb. I will definitely be boycotting @Cubs and Wrigley Field. Would love to see the @MLB community step up and weigh in https://t.co/p1pQ3RK2JG

— Joshua Scott (@joshuascottca32) May 9, 2019

Independent journalist Tim Poole said NBC News’ blurry photo was proof that “we are truly in the end of days” and “we live in hell.”

NBC has blurred the "ok" hand sign signifying that we are truly in the end of days pic.twitter.com/1MF65Iw8pF

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 9, 2019

WATCH HERE:

In a YouTube video criticizing NBC News, Poole said: “I’m kind of joking, but I really do think we need to point out that things are really crazy right now.” He went on to say that the network knows the “OK” sign is not a white supremacist hand gesture, but that the media is beholden to progressive ideology and money.

As Poole pointed out, at the very bottom of the NBC News report, writer Elisha Fieldstadt explained that the “OK” hand gesture “only recently emerged as a ‘white power’ symbol due to a hoax by members of the website 4chan, who sought to troll liberals and the media.

Citing the Anti-Defamation League, Fieldstadt added: “[B]y 2019, at least some white supremacists seem to have abandoned the ironic or satiric intent behind the original trolling campaign and used the symbol as a sincere expression of white supremacy.”

However, she noted that the ADL cautions that “particular care must be taken not to jump to conclusions about the intent behind someone who has used the gesture.”

About Post Author

Pluralist

Andrew Tobin is Pluralist’s Editor-in-chief.

See author's posts