A CNN story on Tuesday about an anonymous Reddit user who created a widely circulated video of President Trump wrestling the network’s logo to the ground has inspired multiple backlashes. Some criticized it as a form of blackmail. Others raised issues of journalism ethics over the network granting conditional anonymity to the user.

The 28-second video and its source have been the subject of questions since Sunday morning, when the president tweeted it as he continued his attacks on the news media. The tweet, which was retweeted by the official presidential account, has become Mr. Trump’s most-shared post on Twitter, The Associated Press reported.

CNN said on Tuesday that it had found and spoken to the Reddit user, who had apologized for creating the video and other posts that were racist and anti-Semitic, including one that added Jewish stars to photos of CNN personalities. A CNN reporter, Andrew Kaczynski, said he had confirmed the user’s identity and had spoken to him by phone.

But the article by Mr. Kaczynski did not identify the user as anything more than a “private citizen.” Mr. Kaczynski later said on Twitter that the Reddit user was a “middle-aged man.”</s>CNN went with “something remarkable…happened” in its Wednesday morning reporting on its KFile team tracking down the Reddit user who originated the GIF President Donald Trump used to bash the cable news network on Twitter.

“CNN found the Reddit user who created the gif of Donald Trump…where he punches CNN,” New Day’s Alisyn Camerota reported on the network’s New Day. “And then, here comes the remarkable part: he apologized for having done this,” she beamed.

By remarkable, she meant CNN’s I-team agreed not to include the identity of HanA**holeSolo in its report about tracking him down, but said it reserves the right to identify him in future reports, should Mr. A**holeSolo ever repeat his “ugly behavior on social media.”

Not everyone was so pleased as Camerota with the outcome. Donald Trump Jr. and Julian Assange are among those calling it “blackmail,” “extortion,” etc., after #CNNBlackmail trended Tuesday night on Twitter:

On Monday, the Redditor who had boasted he originated the CNN-bashing GIF suddenly apologized for same after learning CNN knew who he was.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reported Tuesday night HanA**holeSolo pleaded with the network not to reveal his identity, saying he is scared for his personal safety, and because, he said, it would embarrass him to be outed as the person behind the GIF, as well as his various anti-Semitic and racist Reddit rants.

“HanA**holeSolo” initially boasted he originated the GIF behind Trump’s tweet in which Trump is seen pounding on the head of a man whose face has been swapped for the CNN logo. He first shared the GIF last Wednesday; CNN reported it found no earlier instance of the GIF that subsequently was edited to add sound before being tweeted by Trump on Sunday.

After Trump’s tweet, “HanA**holeSolo” took a victory lap, via Reddit: “Holy s—!! I wake up and have my morning coffee and who retweets my s—post but the MAGA EMPORER himself!!! I am honored!!”

CNN’s KFile identified the man, using information he posted on Reddit and Facebook, and reached out to him on Monday. On Tuesday, he posted a lengthy apology on the subreddit /The_Donald, in which he said he admires and respects the press and all of mankind, and deleted his other offensive posts. Moderators of /The_Donald subreddit took down his apology.</s>CNN continues to feel the backlash against a perceived threat to out the identity of a Reddit user who created a now-viral Trump GIF, with Reddit users and subreddits striking back and starting to ban links to the network.

The incident was sparked last week when Donald Trump re-tweeted a GIF created by a Reddit user showing Trump (during his stint in the WWE) attacking a person with the CNN logo superimposed over his head. The tweet led to widespread criticism for Donald Trump by those who saw the action as petty and below the office of the president, with some claiming that it could incite violence against journalists.

The controversy soon turned to the person who first created the GIF, a Reddit user named HanA**holeSolo. A number of outlets began looking into the person’s posting history, finding a number of instances of racism and anti-Semitism. In its own report, CNN uncovered the identity of the man but noted they would keep it private — after what many saw as a forced apology and on the condition that he refrains from posting any more inflammatory content.

“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,” the article stated. “…CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.”

That apparent threat did not go over well with the internet, with many equating the threat to blackmail and the term #CNNBlackmail shooting to the top of Twitter. The actions also sparked something of a battle within Reddit. While some defended CNN and noted that HanA**holeSolo’s own history of posting racially charged content makes his outing fair game, the majority were against CNN, and some subreddits are already taking action.

Many saw CNN as trying to frighten away critics who might create unflattering GIFs and memes, so naturally, Reddit became even more flooded with anti-CNN memes. One, which shot to the top of Reddit, showed a picture of a hostage making a forced apology while being held at gunpoint by men with CNN logos superimposed over their heads.

Some cited the “Streisand Effect,” an internet theory that shows how attempts to suppress certain information ends up spreading it even further.

The Economist offered some history into the theory.

“Named after the American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, the Streisand Effect describes how efforts to suppress a juicy piece of online information can backfire and end up making things worse for the would-be censor. Ms Streisand inadvertently gave her name to the phenomenon in 2003, when she sued the California Coastal Records Project, which maintains an online photographic archive of almost the entire California coastline, on the grounds that its pictures included shots of her cliffside Malibu mansion, and thus invaded her privacy.”

However, Streisand’s lawsuit only brought more attention to the pictures, which then spread further around the internet.

CNN apparently didn’t bear the lesson. The network’s alleged “blackmail” of the Reddit user who created the Trump GIF has now sparked what some have termed a Meme War. A subreddit called CNNMemes, which was created earlier this year but had been dormant, was flooded with user-made images criticizing CNN. By late morning on Wednesday, there were 15,000 users on the subreddit.

Others have taken more direct action, with a handful banning direct links to CNN on their subreddits and instead only allowing links to archived pages. Moreover, the backlash continues, with CNN still among the top terms on Twitter and critics still creating memes attacking the network.</s>Is CNN guilty of blackmail against the Reddit user who created the viral GIF of Donald Trump attacking a mock CNN reporter?

The internet seems to think so.

The term #CNNBlackmail became a trending term on Twitter in the early morning hours on Wednesday after the cable news outlet tracked down the person responsible for using some creative editing to turn Donald Trump’s appearance on the WWE into a slam against CNN.

The incident started earlier in the week, when a Reddit user who went by HanA**holeSolo created a gif of Trump attacking someone with a CNN logo for a head. Trump himself then tweeted the GIF, leading to criticism that he was promoting violence against journalists.

At the same time, many began looking into the posting history of HanA**holeSolo and found a number of racist and anti-Semitic images. A CNN investigation ultimately uncovered the person’s real-life identity.

“Using identifying information that HanA**holeSolo posted on Reddit, [CNN’s] KFile was able to determine key biographical details, to find the man’s name using a Facebook search and ultimately corroborate details he had made available on Reddit,” a CNN report noted.

The Reddit user then deleted all previous comments and wrote a lengthy apology.

“The meme was created purely as satire, it was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation,” he wrote.

The CNN report added that the man behind HanA**hole*Solo then called the network, confirming his identity and saying he was nervous about the consequences being outed could have for himself and his family. The network complied with this request but also appeared to issue a warning to the man and to others who might exhibit the same behavior online.

“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.”

But that warning to expose the Reddit user’s identity itself led to controversy, and many people took to social media to voice their displeasure with the network. The term CNN Blackmail was trending across social media, with many noting the network’s apparent hypocrisy for using anonymous sources in their own reporting.

This is not the first bit of controversy that CNN has found this week. Earlier, the network reported on a story claiming that the Trump White House threatened MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to release a hit piece in the National Enquirer if they did not issue an apology to Trump. But as the New York Post discovered, the image of National Enquirer cover used during the segment was one that never actually existed.

“The cover — which has the headline ‘Heidi Cruz: Betrayed by Cheating Husband!’ and promised details on a ‘sordid threesome, sleazy love letters and sensational photo proof’ — has never appeared on the National Enquirer, according to sources at the magazine,” the report noted.

And the bad publicity seems to continue for the network. In the early morning on Wednesday, the CNN Blackmail term had reached the very top of Twitter.</s>A Reddit user is taking credit for creating the video President Donald Trump posted to Twitter depicting him punching a physical manifestation of CNN .

The same user, who goes by HanA--holeSolo, has previously posted several racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic memes on Reddit. One post included a photo of CNN personalities with the Star of David attached to each person. Another said "F--K ISLAM." Many of HanA--holesolo's posts denigrate black people.

HanA--holeSolo appears to have submitted the Trump wrestling GIF five days ago to The_Donald, a subreddit where people gather to idolize the President and hurl hatred toward Trump's supposed enemies.

"Trump takes down fake news," HanA--holeSolo titled the GIF, which shows Trump punching WWE head Vince McMahon in 2007, but with CNN's logo superimposed over McMahon's face.

Trump tweeted the video on Sunday, calling CNN "#FraudNewsCNN" and "#FNN."

Trump's tweet made for a spectacular day among those who visit The_Donald. HanA--holeSolo wrote in the subreddit : "Wow!! I never expected my meme to be retweeted by the God Emporer [sic] himself!!!"</s>In a Tuesday tweet that set the internet on fire, President Trump posted a gif showing him tackling "CNN" and raining punches down on the news network's forehead. The gif was taken from Wrestlemania 23 in 2007, in which Trump and WWE CEO Vince McMahon squared off in the "Battle of the Billionaires" (although the actual match was between Bobby Lashley and "The Samoan Bulldozer" Umaga, with Trump supporting the former and McMahon the latter.)

Some found it funny. Some found it outrageous. CNN was not pleased — and perhaps they could have parlayed Trump's tweet into good publicity, had they not somehow topped the president. The gif came from Redditor "HanAssholeSolo," who CNN quickly tracked down and, in their words, "attempted to contact." The next day, HanAssholeSolo issued a lengthy apology on the pro-Trump subreddit r/The_Donald, a post that has since been deleted by the subreddit's moderators.

It was then that CNN posted one of the year's most unsettling statements — something that would sound more appropriate from a mafia don or hacker group than a cable news organization: "'HanA**holeSolo' sounded nervous about his identity being revealed and asked to not be named out of fear for his personal safety and for the public embarrassment it would bring to him and his family."

"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… CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change." Emphasis ours.

The CNN statement was met with widespread criticism, as a cable news channel available in over 82 percent of American households in effect threatened to dox a reddit user whose only crime was making offensive memes. Prominent among the critics was the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. "So I guess they weren't effective threatening the admin so they go after & bully a 15 y/o? Seems in line w their "standards" #CNNBlackmail" he tweeted on Wednesday.

Junior also retweeted right-wing political consultant Ali Alexander, who called the CNN reporter behind the story, Andrew Kacynski, a "bottomfeeder." "This isn't journalism, this is coercion, requiring capitulation," Ali wrote.

It wasn't only Trump supporters and conservatives who came out against CNN. German Lopez, a Vox reporter who accused Trump of having "lied and bullshitted to the American people" in a recent article, called CNN's actions "extremely unethical."

"Even if you think this jerk deserves it, think about all the other people it would affect — his family, friends, etc. Just awful," he tweeted.

​Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Wikileaks head Julian Assange both went further, suggesting that CNN was in violation of criminal law by threatening "HanAssholeSolo".

CNN denies that the user is a teenager, instead claiming that he is an "adult male."

"CNN never made any deal, of any kind, with the user. In fact, CNN included its decision to withhold the user's identity in an effort to be completely transparent that there was no deal," the network wrote in a follow-up post.</s>Sen. Ted Cruz joined the social pile-on attacking CNN over its decision not to identify a Redditor who apologized for his GIF of Donald Trump bashing CNN in the head after hearing from CNN.

What has thousands of undies bunched – and #CNNblackmail trending in the US – is the bit in KFile’s Andrew Kaczynski report in which he explains CNN decided not to identify the man, given what was described as a full-throated apology and a promise to refrain from posting any more objectionable remarks, while adding that CNN could identify the man should he ever repeat his “ugly behavior on social media” which included racist and anti-Semitic rants and images.

CNN, meanwhile, has issued a statement refuting a storyline being pushed that HanA**holeSolo is 15 years old, and that he apologized and deleted his objectionable material after speaking to CNN.

“CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit under out of concern for his safety,” the network said in a statement.

“Any assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false. The user, who is an adult male, is not a 15-year-old boy, apologized and deleted his account before ever speaking with our reporter. CNN made made any deal, of any kind with the user. In fact, CNN included its decision to withhold the user’s identity in an effort to be completely transparent that there was no deal.”

Kaczynski had reported same chronology in his report published Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, CNN’s Chris Cuomo reportedly deleted a tweet wondering if CNN made the right call in not identifying the subject of its report on the GIF used by Donald Trump in his incendiaray weekend tweet.

And some Republican politicians weighed in on the fracas, including Republican congressman Scott Taylor, who accused CNN of coercing and he’s “pretty sure a line is crossed here,” in a since-deleted tweet. Sen. Ted Cruz also weighed in:</s>The entire basis of CNN’s meme witch hunt might have come crashing down Wednesday as Buzzfeed showed that the actual video’s origins are not so easily ascertained, and the network is likely harassing the wrong guy.

CNN’s KFile mounted a cyber jihad of sorts after President Donald Trump tweeted the video of a wrestling match, which was edited to make it look like the president was body-slamming the CNN logo. The network hunted down a Reddit user who took credit for the meme, reported out a profuse apology from the man, and then bizarrely threatened to reveal his identity if his behavior does not comply with the network’s standards.

KFile’s entire piece, as well as each piece CNN posted on the subject, was borne on the premise that the Reddit user who claimed credit was actually right.

Turns out, he might not have been.

A Buzzfeed analysis shows the origins of the meme Trump actually tweeted could very well trace back to a Facebook page, and that the president or his administration likely did not come across it on Reddit. The gif Trump tweeted is at best a modified version of the video HanAssholeSolo posted on Reddit. The clip he posted is longer, has different coloring, does not have the same watermark and does not include audio. Trump’s video is not even technically a gif, which is a soundless video on loop, but instead is the same clip spliced together.

Buzzfeed also noted that it would be “almost impossible” for Trump to have downloaded the video to his phone directly from Reddit because of the type of video file HanAssholeSolo shared. A much more likely scenario is that someone else downloaded the Reddit file, modified it and then shared it somewhere that got the president’s attention. That could have been through a text or email or some other means.

“Throughout all of this, we haven’t actually learned anything about where Trump and members of his inner circle are getting their memes,” Buzzfeed concludes with gravitas, seemingly as oblivious as CNN about the journalistic seriousness of memevestigations.

For its part, CNN dedicated no less than four days of prominent coverage to the meme and its origins. KFile showed particular interest in the originator’s supposed racism, which he highlighted in the story in a clear effort to smear Trump as a purveyor of bigotry and, perhaps indirectly, equate criticism of CNN with irrational hatred.

CNN editor-at-large Chris Cilizza basically accused the White House of lying about the source of the meme. Demonstrating an unbelievable lack of understanding of the way viral memes work, Cilizza puzzled over the conflicting reports from KFile and the White House:

On the one hand, we have a detailed analysis of the origin of the GIF, which first appeared on Reddit last Wednesday, its creator acknowledging he made it. On the other we have the White House — with no name attached! — insisting Trump didn’t get the GIF from Reddit. Which leaves an obvious question: Where did Trump get it then? Did he make it? (Seems unlikely.) Did someone at the White House make it? The version that Trump tweeted was slightly altered from the version on Reddit. Did someone at the White House flag it from a site other than Reddit? Who? And what site was it? Sure, the facts all point to the CNN GIF originating from Reddit and Trump being made aware of it via that site. But, he wasn’t, according to the White House. So, who are you going to believe?

To be clear, there’s plenty of evidence as outlined by Buzzfeed to suggest the White House told the truth when it said Trump did not pull the video from Reddit. CNN’s own report now concedes this fact in the lead of the story, which notes the user “initially claimed” credit for the video. Even if the gif did show up first on Reddit, that doesn’t establish a direct line from the user behind that post and the video Trump tweeted.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact .</s>On July 2, President Donald Trump posted a mock video of himself wrestling CNN over fraud news coverages. The uploaded GIF shows the President of the United States taking down a person with the CNN logo emblazoned on his face. The footage appears to have been taken from April 1, 2007, when former business mogul was pulled to the mat by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

Donald Trumps’ tweet has gathered a lot of heat online. The tweet itself has been considered as the most retweeted tweet ever, with more than 331,702 retweets and 556,332 likes. The wrestling video was originally lifted from a post on Reddit for President Trump’s fans. The GIF was posted by a user named HanA****eSolo.

The racist internet troll behind the emblazoning CNN’s logo has issued an official apology.

Redditor HanA****eSolo issued a mea culpa on Tuesday for the offensive remarks. The user, who has wiped out their reddit history, called the Trump-CNN clip “a prank, nothing more.”

The apology is titled “To my fellow redditors in this community, the rest of reddit and the media/public, I apologize.”

HanA****Solo started their latest post by first apologizing to the reddit community for dragging the website and the community under media controversy. He accepted that the created posts were racist, anti-semitic, and bigoted.

He then suggested that he is not a hateful person as the media is presenting him to the world instead, he never supports violence or actions against others simply on race, or the lifestyle they choose to have.

“I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life,” they wrote.

HanA***Solo called this troll video an “eye opener” as it has shown to them what others may think about such pranks. He further accepted that free speech is everyone’s right but that does not mean that people can post whatever they wish. He also talked about America’s first amendment and how it protects the media and the press, as reported by CNN.

“What the President’s feed showed was not the original post that was posted here, but loaded up somewhere else and sound added to it then sent out on Twitter. I thought it was the original post that was made and that is why I took credit for it. I have the highest respect for the journalist community and they put their lives on the line every day with the jobs that they do in reporting the news.”

Apparently, this was not the first hate related post that was found on HanA****Solo’s feeds on the reddit. After their Trump-CNN clip went viral, Georgia Southern University assistant professor Jared Yates Sexton tweeted other posts by the redditor.

After Sexton started tweeting the posts, he himself received death threats, he told HuffPost.

“There’s a fever pitch to this dialogue that is dangerous to everybody,” Sexton said.

As of this writing, the White House has not issued any comment on the Donald Trump-CNN mock video tweet other than Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying on Monday that, “The video didn’t come from Reddit.” At the same time, CNN journalists have vowed not to cower to any threats of violence coming from the highest office.</s>(JTA) — The Reddit user who claimed responsibility for the altered video depicting President Donald Trump body slamming someone with CNN superimposed over his head has apologized for the video.

The Reddit user who goes by the handle “HanAssholeSolo” also apologized for other offensive content he posted, which included anti-Semitic and racist imagery, CNN reported Tuesday evening. He also has removed that content from his Reddit account, according to CNN.

CNN’s KFIle reported that it discovered the identity of the man, a private citizen, by using identifying information in his Reddit account and investigating the biographical data garnered from it. Shortly after CNN first attempted to contact him by phone and email, the man posted his apology on Reddit and then called CNN, which said Tuesday evening that it decided not to reveal his name because he said he feared for his personal safety and the damage it would do to his reputation and that of his family.

CNN noted that it “reserves the right to publish his identity” should he again post offensive material.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to the members of the reddit community for getting this site and this sub embroiled in a controversy that should never have happened. I would also like to apologize for the posts made that were racist, bigoted, and anti-semitic. I am in no way this kind of person, I love and accept people of all walks of life and have done so for my entire life. I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life, I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction from the subs on reddit and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts. I would never support any kind of violence or actions against others simply for what they believe in, their religion, or the lifestyle they choose to have. Nor would I carry out any violence against anyone based upon that or support anyone who did,” he wrote in his apology on Reddit, according to CNN. The apology has since been removed by the moderators of /The_Donald subreddit

“The meme was created purely as satire, it was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation. I had no idea anyone would take it and put sound to it and then have it put up on the President’s Twitter feed. It was a prank, nothing more,” he also wrote.

Trump tweeted the gif, or graphics interchange format — a short video that is friendly to multiple platforms — on Sunday. It was drawn from a staged encounter years ago between wrestling impresario Vince McMahon and Trump, who are friends.

The president has feuded with the media generally and CNN specifically in recent days. He has seized on CNN’s retracting of a report linking a Trump ally to a Senate investigation, calling the news network a purveyor of “garbage journalism.” He tagged the gif #FraudNewsCNN, and the official White House account, @POTUS, retweeted it.
CNN is accused of threatening to reveal the personal identity of a Reddit user who made a GIF depicting United States President Donald Trump tackling a man to the ground, with CNN's logo superimposed on the man's face. The GIF was modified and posted on Trump's Twitter feed.