U.S. President Barack Obama poses with player David Ortiz for a "selfie" as he welcomes the 2013 World Series Champion
A controversial selfie taken by David Ortiz during a visit by the Boston Red Sox to the White House last week may be the last, senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on Sunday.
It was later revealed that the
image of Ortiz and President Barack Obama snapped by the Red Sox slugger
was part of a promotion for Samsung.
White House officials have "had
conversations with Samsung about this and expressed our concerns,"
Pfeiffer said, declining to give specifics. “We'll leave that
conversation between the lawyers."
During the ceremony, as the Red Sox presented a commemorative No. 44
jersey to Obama, Ortiz pulled out his phone to snap the photo with the
president.“He wants to take a selfie!” Obama said. “It's the Big Papi selfie.”
Ortiz later tweeted the selfie from his Twitter account. Samsung retweeted the photo, saying it was “thrilled to see the special, historic moment David Ortiz captured with his Galaxy Note 3 during his White House visit."
"When we heard about the visit to
the White House, we worked with David and the team on how to share
images with fans," the company said in a statement. "We didn’t know if
or what he would be able to capture using his Note 3 device."
According to Sports Business Journal, the All Star designated hitter recently signed an endorsement deal with Samsung to be its "MLB social media insider."
"So when the Red Sox visit the
White House this week to commemorate their World Series victory, 'Big
Papi' will be tweeting and sending photos on Samsung’s behalf," the publication reported Monday, the day before Papi snapped the presidential selfie.
On Wednesday, Ortiz denied the selfie was part of his new endorsement deal.
"It wasn't anything promotional,
anything like that," Ortiz said. "I mean, who knows that you're going to
take a picture with the president? How many people can guarantee that?
It was something we don't even have to talk about.
"It just came out right in the
moment when I gave him the jersey and he asked to take pictures," Ortiz
continued. "It was like, 'Oh, wait a minute, let me see if I can get
away with this.' I was lucky that I was right there. It was fun. It was
something I'll never forget."
The White House isn't forgetting, either.
"As a rule, the White House
objects to attempts to use the president's likeness for commercial
purposes," White House press secretary Jay Carney said during his daily news briefing on Thursday. "And we certainly object in this case."
Last month, Samsung benefited from viral success when Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres took a star-studded selfie with her Samsung phone. The photo was retweeted more than 3 million times, a new Twitter record. The previous record holder: Barack Obama.
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