Harlem Shake Meme
Out of context: Reply #102
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- i_monk0
Performances of the Harlem Shake with unforeseen consequences
In February 2013, a New York boys' ice hockey team was forced to forfeit a first-round playoff game as a result of a Harlem Shake video uploaded to YouTube. The team's video, shot in a locker room, depicts scantily clad team members, notably, one player wearing nothing but a sock.[89][90]
Two Israeli soldiers received prison sentences, and one was also relieved of his command, after they posted a video of soldiers performing the Harlem Shake around a cannon, even though they were reported to have notified their commanders of the project, taken care to ensure that no sensitive military equipment was shown, and sought approval for the finished video. The video was reported to have received a generally positive reaction from mainstream Israeli media and online.[91][92]
In Russia, police arrested five people after they uploaded a video of themselves doing the Harlem Shake on a war memorial, an army tank from World War II.[93][94][95]
A group of up to 15 miners in Western Australia were fired for breaching safety rules after uploading a video where they performed the Harlem Shake underground.[96][97]
Following what was described as a Harlem Shake "incident" on a plane flying from Colorado to San Diego, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation. The participants claimed that they had sought permission from a flight attendant before the performance began, and that the seat-belt sign was off at the time.[98][99]
In a controversial move, a student at St Hilda's College, Oxford lost her temporary job as a part-time library invigilator and student organisers were fined after a Harlem Shake video was filmed in the college library.[100] By way of contrast, Professor Roger Ainsworth, Master of St Catherine's College, Oxford, praised his students for their version of the meme, which he described as "the best example of the genre, at least in the UK".[101][102][103]
A religious education teacher at Caldicot Comprehensive School in Wales was suspended after a Harlem Shake video was posted online which allegedly showed him dancing with a lifesize cardboard figure of Pope Benedict XVI. According to Monmouthshire council the teacher may have behaved in an "unacceptable way".[104][105][106]
The Washington Post reported that according to the National Coalition against Censorship, about 100 students across the US have been suspended for participating in various versions of the Harlem Shake Meme. NCAC Director Joan Bertin referred to the suspensions as "a rather disproportionate response by educators" to what she described as "teenage hijinks".[107][108]