‘Does a 14yo write these?’ Newspaper slammed for ‘disgraceful’ Muhammad Ali front page
Angry admirers of late boxer Muhammad Ali branded British tabloid The Sun “utter scum” and “disgraceful” for running a front page in memory of Ali under the headline “Float like a butterfly sting like R.I.P.”
After the newspaper published a preview of its front page on Twitter late on Saturday, social media users were quick to air their outrage at its decision to use such a pun to mark the legendary boxer’s death.
Here is tomorrow's front page - R.I.P Muhammad Ali pic.twitter.com/IuHYU4bXkQ
— The Sun (@TheSun) June 4, 2016
“Jesus Christ, does a 14 year old write these headlines?” wrote @SeanMR18 on Twitter, while others felt it may have been written by someone even younger.
@TheSun@MrTempletonPeck Jesus Christ, does a 14 year old write these headlines?
— Sean (@SeanMR18) June 4, 2016
@TheSun what kind of bullshit is this? Who wrote this? The editors 9 year old?! Comes off disrespectful and lazy.
— James Bridgmon (@JamesBridgmon) June 4, 2016
@TheSun how many seconds did it take for your five year old to think of that as a headline for the death of Muhammed Ali? Lame.
— mark perkins (@thatmarkperkins) June 4, 2016
Those opinions were echoed by numerous other netizens, who described the headline as “shocking” and “hideous.”
@TheSun this is disgraceful. A laboured pun (that doesn't even work) spun from the death of a legend. Fucking hideous.
— James Cook (@JamesOrCook) June 4, 2016
@TheSun wow this is shocking!
— xxlyndsxx (@lyndsaykate82) June 4, 2016
@TheSun utter scum.
— Lainger (@Lainger83) June 4, 2016
Others just took aim at the newspaper as a whole, which is owned by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, branding it a “pathetic rag.”
@TheSun pathetic rag
— John Dean (@johnwilliedean) June 4, 2016
@TheSun This is a prime reason why I haven't bought this rag in 20 years...
— SteveW (@stommx) June 5, 2016
@TheSun That is utterly disrespectful and exactly what you expect from a third rate waste of paper. Just when you think you can't get lower.
— Darren (@DMuddification) June 5, 2016
Some found the headline so abhorrent that they even called for those behind it to be fired.
@TheSun A truly apalling lack of taste. An editor needs to lose his job for allowing such a disrespectful headline to be published.
— The Grey Haired Dude (@QPR4Me) June 4, 2016
@TheSun there's being different but this is just distasteful. Few P45s on the way..
— Dominick Gallagher (@Domeog) June 5, 2016
@TheSun editor should be sacked for approving this trash
— Mark P Makey (@markpmakey) June 4, 2016
Only in April, The Sun drew the ire of the public for failing to acknowledge the verdict in the historic Hillsborough inquest on its front page. The paper had instead relegated it to page eight.
Wait - neither @TheSun nor @thetimes mention Hillsborough on their front pages?! Disgraceful, contemptible pricks. pic.twitter.com/9p3AApPTaW
— Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) April 26, 2016
.@bbc5live reporting that The Sun has relegated Hillsborough verdict to pp8 & 9. Nothing on front page. Extraordinary.
— Rory Bremner (@rorybremner) April 26, 2016
The paper had also courted controversy the previous month, when it decided to print a picture of Adam Johnson, a former Sunderland player convicted of engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, alongside the headline “Paedo In His Speedos.”
Front page of The Sun tomorrow. #AdamJohnsonpic.twitter.com/9AXgKlGCeJ
— Footballnus (@footballnus) March 2, 2016
I won't sully anyone's timeline with it but tomorrow's Sun #AdamJohnson front page so utterly wretched you'll want to wash if you touch it.
— Julian Shea (@juliansheasport) March 2, 2016
Ridiculous Sun front page on Adam Johnson.Totally irrelevant photo so they could use a rhyme for paedo. Mirror p1 pic much more powerful.
— Michael Upton (@MUTiser2) March 2, 2016
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