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Man Who Raised Over $1 Million For Children’s Hospital Apologizes For Past Tweets

Ben McDonald Contributor
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Iowa resident Carson King, who recently became a celebrity by raising over $1 million for University of Iowa Stead Children’s Hospital, apologized Tuesday for tweets he made as a sophomore in high school.

King held a press conference and tweeted out a statement in which he apologized for his past tweets, which were discovered by the Des Moines Register, saying, “I see it was an attempt at humor that was offensive and hurtful.”

The tweets were found during a “routine background check of King’s social media,” according to the Des Moines Register, and they contained two jokes, “one comparing black mothers to gorillas and another making light of black people killed in the Holocaust.”

King responded to the revelation in his statement by saying, “One of those posts was brought to my attention by a member of the media today. I had no recollection of it. In re-reading it today – eight years later – I see it was an attempt at humor that was offensive and hurtful.” he also said that he and his friends were quoting and referencing the popular Comedy Central show “Tosh.0” when they made the jokes.

King recently made headlines after he held up a sign at College Gameday where he asked people to send beer money to his Venmo. Once donations began to pour in, King decided to give the money to University of Iowa Stead Children’s Hospital. Both Venmo and Anheuser-Busch partnered with King and matched the donations.

As of King’s latest update he has raised over $1.1 million for the hospital.

KCCI, a Des Moines television network, reported Tuesday night that Anheuser-Busch has already cut ties with King after his tweets surfaced but will still donate to the hospital. (RELATED: Carson King Gets His Own Busch Light Can After Raising More Than $675,000 For An Iowa Children’s Hospital)

Anheuser-Busch told KCCI, “Carson King had multiple social media posts that do not align with our values as a brand or as a company and we will have no further association with him. We are honoring our commitment by donating more than $350,000 to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.”

However, Keith Murphy, a sports reporter for local Des Moines T.V. station WHO-HD 13, reported that Busch sevred its relationship with King before the press conference in which King apologized for the tweets. According to Murphy, Busch severed the relationship before the Des Moines Register published the story about the tweets, it was in the editing phase when King held the press conference.