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Beyoncé 'Blow-Up Doll' Joke Gets Fraternity Suspended

Phi Delta Theta accused of racism, misogyny for a holiday card prank.

A digital Christmas card featuring a sex toy meant to represent Beyoncé has a University of Pennsylvania fraternity under investigation.

Phi Delta Theta was suspended after taking a seasons greeting photo in which its members, most of whom appear to be white, are posing with a Black blow up doll. "The Brothers of Phi Delta Theta wish you a Merry Christmas," is scrawled across the top of the pic, and it was posted to a public social media page Sunday (Dec. 14) night.

Fellow U Penn student organizations immediately responded with a call for punishment, accusing the frat of racism and misogyny. In drafting an apology, the frat attempted to explain that it was a "distasteful" prank and that "the absence of racial motivation is no justification for this act of poor judgment." The doll was supposed to resemble Bey, but they realized it didn't once they got it out of the packaging, they said.

No word yet on why the "Brothers" ordered the doll in the first place, and, instead of sending it back, took a picture with it.

The chapter's international leadership and campus officials are looking into it. “We are deeply concerned by this image,” Associate Executive Vice President of Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity Sean Wagner wrote in a statement to the Daily Pennsylvanian. “Phi Delta Theta is a values-based organization and the lack of judgment associated with this image indicates a disconnect from those same values.”

The punishment will include some form of “educational action that will promote reform.”

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(Photo: THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN/PHI DELTA THETA VIA FACEBOOK)

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