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San Francisco 49ers/YouTube RzstProgramming/Twitter

Nick Bosa follows Instagram account that jokes about Kobe Bryant’s death

One meme posted by the account features a grim reaper using a claw machine to pick up a toy-sized 'Bryant.'

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Rachel Kiley

IRL

Posted on Feb 1, 2020   Updated on May 19, 2021, 4:32 pm CDT

Nick Bosa, a first season defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, is in the hot seat after he was called out for following an Instagram meme account that’s been joking about the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

Twitter user @RsztProgramming posted a tweet calling Bosa out Saturday morning, along with receipts.

“#SuperBowlLIV contender Nick Bosa follows a private Instagram account that jokes about Kobe Bryant’s death,” the account wrote.

In the meme posted by the account, @angry_vet_, a grim reaper is seen using a claw machine to pick up a toy-sized man with the claw.

Text on the meme reads:

“Kobe Bryant? Is there even a Betty White in this?”

Follow-up tweets note that the account in question also liked replies that mocked Bryant and his fans and that Bosa had been following it since before he was drafted into the NFL from Ohio State in 2019.

After RzstProgramming first drew attention to it, the Instagram account was made public.

The Daily Dot can confirm that the account posted the grim reaper meme about Bryant’s death and is followed by Bosa. The meme has since been deleted from the account.

Some Bosa defenders expressed annoyance that he was being called out for simply following an account that was posting offensive content.

“I mean, is Bosa supposed to know every single thing the people he follows post? Yeah that account is trash but I don’t know how Bosa judged for just following,” Twitter user @TheMMQBL wrote.

And Twitter user @RustiJockstrap complained that “y’all so sensitive that even who people follow bothers y’all.”

https://twitter.com/Freeze92/status/1223699620922040321

However, this is not an isolated incident for the up-and-coming NFL star.

Though it’s unclear at this time if Bosa has engaged with the account in any way, he’s previously drawn negative attention for repeatedly interacting with racist and homophobic social media accounts.

A few days before the NFL draft last April, RzstProgramming shared a staggering number of screenshots showing Bosa “liking” posts that used the N-word, joked about rape, and were blatantly homophobic.

Bosa himself admitted that his agents went through his Twitter account and deleted all his own potentially problematic tweets in anticipation of the draft.

“I had to,” he said. “There is a chance I might end up in San Francisco.”

These previous incidents, and Bosa’s apparent disinterest in accepting any accountability for his choices, are why so many are frustrated–though not surprised–to see that Bosa appears to still be entertaining the same garbage content and opinions as he was when he was in college.

“Nick Bosa continues to show exactly who he is,” Atlantic writer Jemele Hill tweeted.

https://twitter.com/IrfanCh71029714/status/1223691391223717888

https://twitter.com/DaVonTooMuch/status/1223659620746461184

https://twitter.com/mgardner_/status/1223684916103217152

https://twitter.com/blkumathurman/status/1223683925710688256

 

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*First Published: Feb 1, 2020, 5:53 pm CST

Rachel Kiley

Rachel Kiley is a writer who sometimes writes things and sometimes is based in L.A., but is definitely always on Twitter @rachelkiley.

Rachel Kiley