On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Twitter account was making news… but for the wrong reasons. A tweet the day before from the team’s verified account showed a photo of fans applauding in the stands, with text saying, “Thanks for the continued support, Penguins fans.” Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers marked the first time fans were permitted to attend a game at PPG Paints Arena this season. The photo showed fans socially distanced and wearing masks properly. But a closer look at the original photo shows the image that the Penguins tweeted seemingly had been altered slightly to show that every fan in the photo wore a mask properly. Many were quick to call out the difference and accuse the Penguins of photoshopping the image.
The Penguins released a statement Thursday afternoon saying “they are taking all precautions to enforce the use of masks to keep fans safe, and have adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” to wearing masks.