EA apologises after removing Colin Kaepernick's name from rap song on Madden 2019

The player and activist's name was removed form YG song 'Big Bank'

(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty)

The video-game studio Electronic Arts (EA) has apologised after Colin Kaepernick’s name was removed from a song featured on one of its games.

Social media users had discovered that a reference to Kaepernick had been removed from the YG song “Big Bank,” which featured on American football simulator Madden NFL 2019.

EA claims that Kaepernick’s name was removed due to copyright worries. Often sporting personalities do not give permission for their names to be used in games – hence why Ryan Giggs was called Ryan Greggs in Pro Evolution Soccer – with EA claiming someone on their team believed that this meant Kaepernick’s unlicensed name should be removed from the song. However, song lyrics are a different matter to using a player’s name on a virtual player.

“We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack,” a statement issued by the studio reads.

“Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks. We messed up, and the edit should never have happened.

“We will make it right, with an update to Madden NFL 19 on August 6 that will include the reference again. We meant no disrespect, and we apologise to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and our players for this mistake.”

The song “Big Bank” was released earlier this year and features a guest verse from Big Sean in which he raps: “Feed me to the wolves, now I lead the pack and s**t / You boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick.”

Sean tweeted about the incident, writing: It’s disappointing and appalling NFL and EA took Kaepernick’s name out of my verse on Big Bank for Madden 19, like it was a curse word. When he’s not a curse, he’s a gift! Nobody from my team approved any of this.“

Kaepernick has been a controversial figure in the United States since 2016, when he famously knelt during the national anthem as a protest against social inequality. The quarterback has since become a powerful activist and inspired hundreds of other football players to similarly protest.