by The Charlotte Hornets have apologized for an in-game skit that went wrong in which a young fan was promised a PlayStation 5 but then had it taken away on camera.
The incident occurred in the second quarter of Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers when Hugo, the team’s mascot dressed as Santa Claus, brought a 13-year-old fan onto the court. After reading a letter to Santa requesting a PS5, a cheerleader presented the console, drawing cheers from the crowd and visible excitement from the boy.
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But the joy quickly faded when a Hornets employee took the console back after the cameras stopped rolling and gave the boy a jersey instead, according to witnesses and a viral social media post. The confusion is said to have stunned the boy, his family and even the team’s players.
Alexei Phillips, the boy’s uncle and a season ticket holder, told Queen City News that the family was asked to take part in the skit by staff at the start of the game. While Phillips was tacitly informed shortly before the skit that the boy wouldn’t be keeping the PS5, that crucial detail wasn’t shared with his nephew.
“Everyone thought he was going to keep it — cheerleaders, dancers, everyone,” Phillips said. “When they took it away, people thought it was a joke. Then they realized that wasn’t the case.”
The incident sparked outrage on social media after a passerby’s post about the skit received over 3.4 million views by Tuesday evening. Fans criticized the Hornets for what many called a misleading and “Grinch-like” gesture.
Do you want to check out a cheap sports organization?
In this video my best friend and his nephew are called onto the pitch for a special segment where they publicly give the kid a PS5… without cameras they took him and gave him a jersey.
😂 Bow down @hornets…crushed the child pic.twitter.com/mcj5hhsuM5
– USMNT_STAN (@StanUsmnt) December 17, 2024
The Hornets publicly apologized on Tuesday and acknowledged their mistake. “During last night’s game, there was an on-field skit that missed the mark,” the team said in a statement. “The skit involved poor decision making and poor communication. Simply put, we turned the ball over and apologized.”
The team promised to make it up to him by giving the boy the promised PS5 and a VIP experience at a future game.
Phillips said the Hornets have since reached out to him and his nephew and expressed regret over the mishap. “There are no hard feelings,” he said. “But that could have been avoided if the jersey had been given to him on the pitch in the first place. He would have been thrilled.”
The Hornets lost 121-108 to the Sixers on Monday, moving them to 7-19 this season.
