A battle over Mark Wahlberg’s Wikipedia page has emerged in the last few days. Editors have argued over the naming of a part of his “personal life” section, which deals with crimes he committed as a teenager.
Controversy has been raging around the Patriot’s Day actor ever since he posted a tribute to George Floyd to Twitter on June 4, with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
George Floyd was a 46-year-old African-American killed at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis at the end of May. The incident sparked numerous protests across the country ever since.
Numerous celebrities have taken to social media to condemn the killing, and Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg was no exception.
Mark Wahlberg tweeted tribute to George Floyd
Wahlberg tweeted: “The murder of George Floyd is heartbreaking. We must all work together to fix this problem. I’m praying for all of us. God bless. #blacklivesmatter.”
The murder of George Floyd is heartbreaking. We must all work together to fix this problem. I'm praying for all of us. God bless. #blacklivesmatter ❤?❤ pic.twitter.com/F3UyhT7itQ
— Mark Wahlberg (@markwahlberg) June 4, 2020
Wahlberg’s tweet prompted a backlash from other Twitter users who accused him of hypocrisy because of several violent incidents from when the actor was a teenager.
These incidents involved some violent crimes, which reportedly included knocking an American-Vietnamese man out with a stick and throwing rocks at African-American children.
As well as taking a lot of heat and criticism on social media, some accused him of editing his Wikipedia page to downplay his past crimes.
Wikipedia editors argue over Mark Wahlberg’s past crimes
An argument surfaced among Wikipedia editors, unable to agree on what to call the section dealing with Wahlberg’s past crimes.
The “Mark Walhberg: Revision History” page shows several editors constantly changing the title of the section and arguing over whether his crimes were racial incidents or hate crimes.
An editor identifying themselves as Ed6767 wrote: “stop warring over this title and reach consensus first.”
Another editor called Acekard claimed that “Racial incidents” was the original title, but someone altered it to “Hate Crimes” to “get it trending on Twitter to smear Mark Walhberg.”
At the time of writing, there is a sub-heading in his “Personal Life” section, which reads “Racial Incidents.”
There is a fact box under the heading which reads: “This section’s title may not reflect its contents or does not comply with standard formatting and is requested to be renamed.”
A Wikipedia “talk page” has been established to discuss the matter.
Editors have discussed using four possible titles: “Arrests and Felony Assault Convictions,” “Legal Issues,” “Racial Incidents,” or “Hate Crimes.”
The actor has yet to respond to the controversy he’s ignited on Twitter and Wikipedia.
Numerous other celebrities have also spoken out condemning the death of George Floyd. Nick Cannon penned an essay where he called for a complete overhaul of police forces in the country.
Meanwhile, even basketball legend Michael Jordan made a rare foray into politics when he demanded an end to police brutality and called for more racial equality.