EAST LANSING, Mich. — The creator and producer of The Quiz Channel on YouTube that included Adolf Hitler’s image as part of a quiz Michigan State used on its videoboards before a game against No. 2 Michigan says the school didn’t ask for permission to use his content or pay him for it.
“It’s an absolutely normal trivia question, shown in an inappropriate setting,” Floris van Pallandt, creator and producer of The Quiz Channel, wrote Sunday on his YouTube page. “Ignoring the dark facets of history is by no means the answer, on the contrary.”
The channel is publicly available and free for users.
While Michigan was finishing off a 49-0 win over the Spartans on Saturday night, Michigan State spokesman Matt Larson apologized that the inappropriate content was displayed more than an hour before kickoff.
“MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future,” Larson said.
Michigan State streamed The Quiz Channel, which had 40 questions in its latest video, including asking in which country was Hitler born with his image before showing Austria as the answer.
The previous question asked, “In Star Trek, what color was Spock’s blood,” before green was shown as the answer.
“I am deeply sorry for the image displayed at Spartan Stadium, which made many of our community feel alienated and unsafe,” interim university president Teresa Woodruff said Sunday. “It was unacceptable. I asked last evening for a full review of this university event and will take all necessary steps to align our messages and actions to our values.
“I will work with our Jewish community and every member of minoritized populations to ensure Spartans feel that this is a place where everyone can live, work, go to class and attend events that are welcoming.”
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