Mark Cuban fined $15K for f-bomb; he takes it up a notch when told it goes to charity
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American businessman, film producer, investor, and television personality Mark Cuban is also a social media sensation, mostly for his "Shark Tank" videos. However, one of the most viral videos of Cuban is of him dropping the f-bomb for charity. The clip of the billionaire investor has gone viral over and over. While most have watched the clip of Cuban getting a free pass to cuss in the name of charity, not many know the complete story behind it.
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Here's the story of Mark Cuban dropping the F-bomb for charity
In 2015, Mark Cuban took part in a League of Legends show match at the Intel Extreme Masters San Jose. The media mogul along with a team of four pro players competed against the team of Intel CEO at the time, Brian Krzanich.
Being a competitive person, Cuban played fiercely, and things often got out of hand as he was pretty amped up before the game. Cuban's frustration came through during the event, as he only got one kill and suffered nine deaths in the game, as per The Wrap. During the course of the game, Cuban dropped the f-bomb to express his anger.
While Cuban didn't perform well, his team of veteran players like Reginald, Meteos, Voyboy, and Doublelift carried him to victory over the Intel CEO's team.
After the game, in a post-match interview, the host informed Cuban that he had been fined $15,000 for his language. The host added that it was all good as the money was going to charity. Cuban being Cuban, rolled his eyes and smiled before asking, “So if I say it again I have to pay another $15,000?”
The host asked him if he wanted to double the donation to $30,000, to which Cuban replied, "F*ck it."
$30,000 seems like pennies now given how much publicity and cheer it garnered for Cuban. Furthermore, the money went to The Cybersmile Foundation which is committed to tackling cyberbullying and digital abuse in the world.
Cuban recently went viral again for a public feud with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Cuban and Musk have been at loggerheads for quite some time over their political opinions and the subject of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) hiring. Cuban, a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, has been critical of Musk supporting Trump, accusing him of being selfish.
Recently, a social media account MAZE posted a video of Cuban giving a talk about white privilege, back when he was the owner of the basketball team. The event came off the backdrop of the killing of an African-American man, George Floyd, which sparked protests across the country.
Alongside the video, MAZE wrote in the caption, "Imagine being a billionaire and being this desperate to be accepted." The post which showed Cuban in a negative light was shared by Musk, who called Cuban a racist.
Mark Cuban is a self-confessed racist, so he just hates himself
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2024
Cuban retaliated in a rather creative manner. He used the AI tool Grok, which is developed by Musk's company xAI, and claimed that he provided the transcript of the video to Grok which did not consider it racist at all.
I asked a completely independent observer, @grok to tell me what the transcript of this video from 2020, that you (@elonmusk ) seem to not appreciate, (despite us being best friends), means:
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 18, 2024
The quote you provided seems to be a call for open and honest dialogue about race,… https://t.co/3yPgzfICoi
Furthermore, in a follow-up post, Cuban gave his position on white privilege citing several examples of players from the Mavericks team and Grok, whom Cuban called an "independent observer", agreed with him.