Teens expelled over mistaken blackface accusation win $1M payout for proving it was acne masks
Text content
Teens expelled from school for 'blackface' win $1m payout after proving it was acne mask
Overview
This image is a screenshot of a news article published by The New Zealand Herald on May 14, 2024. The article headline reports that a group of teenage boys were expelled from school after staff incorrectly assumed the dark substance on their faces was racist blackface, but the teens later won a $1 million payout after proving the substance was black acne skincare masks. The article includes two supporting photos: the left photo shows three of the boys posing for a selfie while wearing dark black face masks, and the right photo shows two boys wearing white face masks, confirming they were using common skincare products. The humor of the meme comes from the absurd, unexpected twist of a serious disciplinary action for alleged racism turning out to be a harmless misunderstanding over skincare, resulting in a large financial settlement for the wrongfully expelled students.
Origin notes
The original source material is a real news article published by The New Zealand Herald on May 14, 2024. This screenshot of the article was shared as a viral meme on X (formerly Twitter), as confirmed by the provided source attribution X.com:meme.jpg. It spread widely across social media platforms due to its surprising, humorous, and counterintuitive plot twist.
