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Pittsburgh Penguins Caught Photoshopping Masks Onto Pictures Of Barefaced Fans

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Elizabeth Weibel Contributor
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A photo posted on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Twitter account received backlash Thursday after some people revealed that masks had been photoshopped onto the faces of barefaced fans in the crowd, despite the team having a zero-tolerance policy regarding mask wearing, the New York Post (NYP) reported.

“We just had to say this again,” the Penguins account tweeted. “Thanks for the continued support, Penguins fans.”

However, upon further investigation, some fans quickly discovered that the photo in the tweet had been photoshopped to portray all fans as correctly wearing their masks, NYP reported. (RELATED: Sidney Crosby Placed On The NHL’s Coronavirus List)

The original photo featured a woman not wearing a mask, and two other fans incorrectly wearing their masks.

“Three people in that picture have their masks photoshopped on,” Taylor Haase, a reporter for DK Pittsburgh Sports pointed out in a tweet.

“Photoshopping proper mask wearing onto people is just ludicrous pandemic theater,” Hemal Jhaveri, an editor for USA Today tweeted.

“So horribly irresponsible and deceitful to post a picture where you PHOTOSHOPED masks onto your fans,” Jashvina Shah, a reporter for College Hockey News tweeted.

The game between the Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday was the first game in a year where fans were officially allowed back in the stands, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“We are excited to have our fans back to PPG Paints Arena, and following the advice of medical professionals, we are taking all precautions to enforce the use of masks to keep our fans safe. We have adopted a zero-tolerance policy, and our arena staff have roving teams to enforce during home games,” a spokesperson for the Penguins explained in a statement released on Thursday, WPXI News reported.

“While perhaps well intended, our staffer should not have altered a wide crowd photo to adjust masks on faces of even a few fans who were not strictly following the rules. Our social media team should never send out altered photos to our fan base. This is a violation of our social media and safety policy, and this staffer has been disciplined,” the statement continued.