The Houston Rockets NBA team fired its social media director because he posted an emoticon (or emoji) of a horse being shot by a gun after the Mavericks lost to his team. Bosses said that the gun emoji “wasn’t appropriate” and so fired the employee over it.
This is the idiocy we’ve arrived at, folks All it takes is one non-PC action and your career is over these days, it seems. And why is a picture of a gun a fireable offense?
The Houston Rockets fired social media manager Chad Shanks on Wednesday, a day after an inappropriate tweet was sent out following the team’s series-clinching victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
“Sometimes you can go too far,” Shanks said on Twitter. “I will no longer run @HoustonRockets but am grateful to the organization that let me develop an online voice.”
Rockets officials also confirmed the firing.
Toward the end of the Rockets’ victory Tuesday night, the team tweeted an emoji of a pistol next to a horse and text suggesting the Mavs succumb to an inevitable end.
First of all… get a damn sense of humor, Houston Rockets! Secondly, since when is a gun a bad thing in America?
The improperly fired employee had a good point on his own personal Twitter feed saying he’s the first person in history to be fired over an emoji!
I may have been the first person in history to be fired due to an emoji combination. That's something, I guess.
— Chad Shanks (@chadjshanks) April 30, 2015