The hashtag #CNNBlackmail is trending on Twitter Wednesday as some are questioning the network's motives in saying they will not name the person who first posted a tweet showing President Donald Trump pummeling someone with the CNN logo superimposed over his face.
According to a CNN story, the Reddit user – identified as HanA**holeSolo – apologized to CNN for using the company's logo and for racists posts he made in the past after the news organization tracked him down.
"I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life," user HanA‑‑‑‑‑‑Solo wrote in an apology, posted to the popular pro-Trump r/The_Donald subreddit Tuesday. "I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction … and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts."
The apology and the account it came from have been deleted from Reddit.
A CNN story about the person who posted the video included the apology to the network and a note explaining why they company was not publishing the real name of the Reddit user.
"CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.
"CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change."
Some social media users took the last sentence as a threat toward HanA**holeSolo, and called for viewers to contact those who advertise on the network to complain.
The network has defended the statement, and the reporter who wrote the story tweeted that the paragraph was being misunderstood.
