A professional darts player has claimed he lost ‘all his sponsors’ after cracking an inappropriate joke on Twitter.
Brazilian arrow-chucker Diogo Portela is known for making jokes online, and the 34-year-old even describes himself as ‘the funniest Brazilian you could ever meet’ on his Twitter page.
However, this joke hasn’t proven to be that much of a hit, given that the topic was suicide.
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Yep, it’s not exactly been a massive vote-winner, particularly with people who have chosen to have their brand associated with him.
The Rio de Janeiro born dartist likes to share a daily laugh with his 7,000 or so followers on Twitter, and on this occasion, he asked them: “What makes sad people jump?”
“A bridge,” Portela wrote.
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After he cracked this particularly dark piece of comedy on Sunday, Portela – the world number 51 – claimed that the brands he endorses got in touch to say that they’d be ending their relationship with him.
Who would have thought that publicly sharing a potentially offensive joke about tragedy would possibly have put them off, eh?
In a newly released statement, Portela admitted that he’s had issues with his mental health – potentially even suicidal thoughts – in the past, which is why he felt able to make light of the subject.
His statement read: "Earlier today I posted a joke, like I do every day. It touches a sensitive subject, I know, but it was a joke,
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"Having struggled with it myself, which was well documented, I felt the joke didn't offend me and I misjudged how it would offend other people.
"That joke made me lose all my sponsors. I understand their decision, however I had no intention to harm anyone when I posted it."
Whilst it’s probably true that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone or have anything this big happen to him as a result of the silly joke, there’s a wider lesson for us all here about sharing stuff online in the assumption that it will all just be fine.
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Not everyone takes things the way you do, and that’s definitely a lesson that Portela has now learned the hard way.
He continued: “It’s good to see Twitter reacting that way, which means people do care about it.
“I do apologise if anyone felt hurt by my joke, I didn’t mean that.
“I’ll keep posting jokes every day, because I know it makes people smile, and I will consider next time a sensitive subject comes into my jokes.
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“Once again, I do apologise for any harm I’ve caused, it wasn’t my intention.”
He seems sincere enough, so that should be the end of it - although it might not bring his sponsors back.
Still, there’s been a mixed reaction online, with some claiming that the alleged sponsorship cost to Portela is an overreaction.
One person wrote: "Bad joke? Very much so.
“But come on Diogo should not lose sponsors over this. OTT [over the top] for me.
“Met Diogo at my comp and what a top fella. No bad bone in him.”
Another said: "Fancy losing sponsors after making a silly but relatively small mistake and apologising. I’d like to know who dropped him because that’s wet.”
However, a third person said: "It's a sensitive subject to many pal. Just because it didn't offend you doesn't make it ok."
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