GameStop’s disturbing Ray Rice tweet met with backlash (update)

A tweet from the official GameStop account that made light of former NFL player Ray Rice’s aggravated assault incident involving his wife has been met with swift criticism. The tweet in question can be seen below, and is a response to one follower asking about a battle royale mode in EA’s Madden NFL 19.

GameStop/Twitter

The tweet was meant as a joke, but people on Twitter were quick to point out the tweet is ill-advised, crude and disrespectful.

“There’s a line between dark humor and just being offensive,” one tweet reads. “This is the latter.”

“Wondering how society feels about a national brand making jokes about domestic violence,” another tweet reads.

Rice was arrested on Feb. 15, 2014 after he and his then fiancee (now wife), Janay Palmer, got into a physical conflict. Rice’s altercation became famous after a video published by TMZ showed him dragging her body from an elevator.

The event has become a talking point in the NFL as concerns over domestic violence stories involving NFL athletes have grown. Rice was initially suspended for two games, but later faced an indefinite suspension from the NFL following the Baltimore Ravens dropping him from the team. Rice was indicted on charges of third-degree aggravated assault, but the charges were eventually dropped. The incident led to the NFL taking a harder stance on domestic abuse cases in the NFL, including harsher punishments for athletes accused of assault.

Update: The tweet was deleted shortly after publishing.

Update (June 10): GameStop issued a statement following the tweet being deleted. The statement can be read below.

We sincerely apologize for our insensitive comment. Making light of domestic violence is unacceptable, and we’re truly sorry.