Yes, the ball in Times Square has an official, verified, Twitter account. Generally it’s used to generate hype for the New Year’s Eve ball drop, tweet innocuous things like who is performing in Times Square and how much longer until midnight. But on New Year’s Eve the account caused a politically correct pushback when it twice tweeted with the hashtag #BallLivesMatter.
Earlier in the day the account tweeted:
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While that was about food, the next tweet with the hashtag had no content other than the hashtag.
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The tweet was quickly deleted, but not before the outrage from progressive and Black Lives Matter activists was in full swing.
@timessquareball deleted it but it said #BallLivesMatter.
— Sean Malone (@seanclaudevdam) January 1, 2016
@jbarbarito From the account it said #BallLivesMatter. Not exactly something to joke about.
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) January 1, 2016
@deray Aaaaand deleted. In case everyone was wondering, the tweet was "#BallLivesMatter." No joke.
— Kenny Malloy (@KMoyPro) January 1, 2016
Did you really just tweet "#BallLivesMatter" @timessquareball ???? Whoever is behind this page needs to deactivate… like now.
— Cameryn Colt (@MTVCamerynColt) January 1, 2016
RT @timessquareball: #BallLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Ucsn5QeXB6
— boots (@BootsMcGuinness) January 1, 2016
Delete this fuckin shit yo!!! RT @timessquareball #BallLivesMatter
— Saint Christopher (@Kartelnometry) January 1, 2016
I really wanna know who thought this was a good idea. RT @timessquareball: #BallLivesMatter
— Fagland's Best (@Qkfman) January 1, 2016
@conniedarko Glad it got deleted. @timessquareball said, #BallLivesMatter
— Sheldon Steen (@sheldonsteen) January 1, 2016
.@timessquareball tweeted #BallLivesMatter & still hasn't had the decency to delete it & apologize What an ignorant way 2 start the new year
— Nikki ✗ (@AKAdemyAward) January 1, 2016
This #balllivesmatter fiasco is proof that 2016 is likely to suck as hard as 2015 unless we get real proactive
— The Underlordian (@Roopee) January 1, 2016
.@timessquareball with a contender for worst tweet of the year in just under the wire: pic.twitter.com/KlarbJdPgD
— Brett Pardy (@AntiqueiPod) January 1, 2016
@timessquareball did u apologize for that racist tweet #BallLivesMatter ?
— Rohit Kumar (@zrahul2020) January 1, 2016
Wow. Right at the wire, #BallLivesMatter becomes the single most misguided hashtag of 2015
— L. Ross Raszewski (@lraszewski) January 1, 2016
The @timessquareball account deleted their #BallLivesMatter tweet, which is sad because they were a shoo-in for worst tweet of 2015
— Sir Psycho T (@SirPsychoT) January 1, 2016
Not everyone was quick to anger, or even understood what the issue was.
I'm watching a 38-0 game, reading Twitter, being told #BallLivesMatter is offensive and trying to figure out how. #NoClue
— Gmo4982 (@Gmo4982) January 1, 2016
#BallLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/xh2U0X61Tr
— scott (@sjmcgee) January 1, 2016
