By Luca Filigenzi, Local News Editor
BREAKING NEWS: A turn of events has mortified the local residents of Punxsutawney, Penn. 2015 tweets from the local mascot Punxsutawney Phil, have recently surfaced in a profoundly negative light.
Punxsutawney Phil, known to close friends as Phil, has been the oh-so-famous groundhog whose mystical powers enlighten him as to whether or not winter will last for six more weeks. For generations, locals relied on him for their crops, and as a tourism bonus, people from all over the country come every year to witness his vision.
In 2014, Phil set up his official X account, but no one paid too much attention to it. Outside of his late January to early February weeks, he posted many promotions for community events. However, it has now come to the media’s attention that he would use X for more than promoting “Dan’s Local Apple Bunches.”
At 10:46 a.m. on Aug. 12th, 2015, Punxsutawney Phil tweeted, saying:
“These beavers think they’re so much better than me with their shoddy houses. It’s not my fault those wood chompers don’t know how to build some dam infrastructure.”
While it didn’t garner attention at the time, nearly a decade later it has finally come into the public consciousness. On Monday, Feb. 3, the day after his ceremony, the tweets were reposted by local beaver activist Chuck Woody. In his repost, he stated:
“As a beaver society that tolerates and ignores these kinds of hateful statements, from a public figure, is sickening.”
Other Beavers are up in arms about it, and the Punxsutawney town was quick to act. Phil’s sponsorships and promotions have been gradually cutting themselves from the public Punxsutawney mascot. Brands like Adidas, Chick-fil-A and the Philadelphia Eagles have all since erased their ties to Phil. Go ahead, try and find them online.
Meanwhile, Phil has made several public comments since the cancellation, including but not limited to more rants on X, drunken rambling and ranting (according to some trusted, anonymous forest critters), and his new podcast “Punx-tuation.”
In his most recent episode, starring fellow furry, controversial friend Ted, whose movie series shares his name, said this:
“I don’t hate beavers. They’re a very resilient group. I apologize for any harm I may have caused to the beaver community. I feel like a real stupid squirrel right about now.”
Some celebrities have stood with Phil in these times. However, Mel Gibson, Alec Baldwin, the yak from Zootopia and “Groundhog Day” star Bill Murray have all made public statements supporting Phil.
“I mean, we all wear Beaver hats now and then. I don’t get the sudden sense of love for those rodents.” Murray said.
As of now, Phil has not been seen much in public, only on his podcast’s call section can locals get a chance to call him and ask him questions that remain unanswered. He is scheduled to appear on the Joe Rogan Podcast sometime in early March.
Up until now, Phil was only known for making the call for more or less winter when seeing his shadow. But now it seems like the only shadow he will see is that of his former glory.