Read excerpts from the post
The police officer from Kensington, Canada, who made a post that went viral claiming that drunk drivers would be forced to listen to Nickelback, removed the post from his page and published an apology to the band.
The post jokingly stated that drunk drivers, "in addition to a hefty fine, a criminal record, and years of license suspension," will receive "the bonus of listening to Nickelback in the police car on the way to jail .
Now, police officer Robb Hartlen has published a lengthy apology to the band. Here are some excerpts:
“As you saw, our little post became an international story. And somewhere in the middle of the noise, the message 'if you drink, don't drive' lost ground to the negativity towards the band I said you'd listen to if you were drunk. At first, I was okay with how I wrote the post. I was sure a huge, internationally successful band would be fine with the joke; after all, it's all for a good cause. But the more successful the post became, the less the 'don't drunk drive' message was mentioned, and the fact that we either love or love to hate Nickelback gained attention. And that made me think less about Nickelback as a band and more about four guys, four humans from Alberta who got dragged into this story. And the more I thought about that, the less funny the post became.”.
And for that I apologize.
I apologize to Chad, Ryan, Mike, and Daniel. Not just as members of Nickelback, but as Canadians. I apologize for not thinking of you as just guys. Having to see the media talk about you this way and not being able to defend yourselves. I didn't think about you or your families when the news used you as a joke. I didn't think that you were the first to help when other Canadians in Fort Mac* needed help. I didn't stop to think that you not only give money to hundreds of charities but also donate your time.
You all share so much with so many, and I truly feel bad for what I did. It wasn't my intention, it wasn't my desire, but it's what happened. So I apologize.
We are better than this. As Canadians, we are better than this. We do not accept bullying, cruelty, or anything that diminishes the work that other people have done. We fight for acceptance, for equality, for justice.
We are better than that.
So, instead of just distancing myself from my mistake, I reached out to Nickelback. I contacted Chad, Ryan, Mike, and Daniel. I contacted their families and apologized, but I still strongly believe in the original message, which is 'if you drink, don't drive'. And talking to them, I discovered some great news. They also share that belief. So I decided the best thing to do was to remove the original post
The band headlined a benefit festival to help families affected by a fire in the Fort McMurray area.
