Michigan State University Being Sued Over Hitler Trivia Question

As a die-hard MSU fan, it has been extremely difficult to swallow all the bad surrounding the program in the last year.

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On top of finishing with a 4-8 record, head coach Mel Tucker was fired after inappropriate behavior with sexual violence prevention advocate Brenda Tracey, another case of sexual harassment by an MSU athletics worker in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal.

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As if the press from that entire event wasn't bad enough, while the Mel Tucker situation was going on, the program faced further scrutiny after a pre-game trivia show featured a question about Adolf Hitler's birthplace and prominently displayed a photo of the dictator on the megatron screen for ~12 seconds. Not a good look at all.

Now, the creator of the quiz show is suing Michigan State University for $150,000, claiming copyright infringement and damages to his brand.

MSU being mSUED

The Associated Press reports that the creator of the YouTube account The Quiz Channel, Floris van Pallandt, has filed a federal lawsuit against the MSU Board of Regents alleging that the school's use of the quiz was not authorized and that he faced significant backlash due to the bad press surrounding the event.

The question was part of a set of European History trivia questions, and in this context, Hitler being featured is understandable. However, the question and image being featured in such a prominent way at a stadium was not appropriate and caused the school to scramble to cover its tracks from facing even further backlash.

The Spartans start their football season on August 30th vs Florida Atlantic.