Eli Apple Source: Cooper Neill / Getty
Perennial Twitter troll Eli Apple found himself in the social media hot seat after his Bills slander got him accused of mocking Damar Hamlin.
The Cincinnati Bengals player always speaks his mind and is known for teasing his competition on social media. He’s even found himself on the opposite side of Internet slander like last year when after losing in the Super Bowl, Twitter trolls parked in his mentions for weeks—but he took it like a professional.
Since the Super Bowl, Eli has been locked in with his team working to get back to the big and last weekend the Bengals came one step closer by eliminating the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo had an amazing season up until this weekend and was dominating in the wake of Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest medical emergency. Hamlin spent weeks in the hospital and still hasn’t returned to the team, but was on hand for the game.
Despite him being present and fans’ lifted spirits, the Bills couldn’t secure a win against the Bengals, and Eli Apple used his Twitter fingers to put on his best Patrick Beverly impersonation.
As Bengals player Stefon Diggs explained his emotions on Twitter, Eli didn’t let him catch a break and used a popular sports insult.
“Cancun on 3,” wrote Eli on Twitter making reference to Diggs and his team being eliminated.
Unfortunately for him, when you play the bad guy role you have to be ready for people to twist your actions and create a backlash. Eli’s heart hands emoji in the tweet made Bill’s fans believe he was taunting Damar Hamlin considering that the emoji is the NFL player’s signature salute. Not only that, but people alleged that the “on 3” mention was a knock to the Bills’ “play for 3” motto and/or Hamlin’s #3 jersey number.
As the backlash mounted, Eli had to break character and address upset fans.
Even if he wasn’t throwing a jab at Damar Hamlin, fans and Stefon Diggs aren’t trying to hear anything he has to say.
“Clout chasing,” wrote Diggs in reply to Eli’s diss while using a corn emoji to call him corny.
Apple’s mother Annie Apple has since responded to the ongoing backlash surrounding her son and she’s encouraging fans to blast him—but for a good cause.
“Put that Eli Apple hate to great use and help families needing housing and care,” wrote Annie Apple while noting that if they use the #LovetoHateEliApple” hashtag, they’ll donate $5,000 to the Salvation Army in Cincinnati for the first 5,000 tweets.
Hopefully, Eli and the Bengals can win the Super Bowl this year or Twitter will be waiting to roast the NFL star for another 5 weeks.
