The US Open fan who watched with a cocktail in his hand as another man gave his wife a drink has spoken out, insisting that all is not as it seems in the viral video.
Footage of the seemingly awkward moment went viral online on Wednesday after a man in a light blue polo shirt was spotted returning to his seat in New York City with the signature $23 “honey deuce” cocktail in both hands, before being seemingly ignored by his partner sitting next to him.
After another spectator beat him to it by leaning forward and handing the woman a drink first, his stunned reaction, while still holding two cocktails, quickly went viral on social media, with the US Open even sharing his reaction on its official account.
However, the man in question has since told his side of the story. He denies that he was tense all night and instead says that his wife was sitting in the row below him.
The US Open fan with a cocktail in his hand who appeared to watch as another man gave his wife a drink has spoken out
The unnamed 43-year-old, a Wall Streeter from Brooklyn Heights, sarcastically told the New York Post: ‘It was very nice of the US Open to zoom in on me and not cut off or make the video two seconds longer.’
He continued: ‘If you look closely in the lower right corner of the video, you will briefly see a blonde with [a bob haircut]and that’s my wife. She leans forward and I look at her.
“We were with another couple who are friends of ours and we were sitting in a row. My wife was sitting in the seat below the blonde lady, who is our friend, and her husband was sitting in the seat above her, so that’s why he gave her the drink.”
While the truth behind the video is slightly different, the man did confirm that he was ignored by his real wife after the cameras moved away from him.
There is always a long line [at the bar]so I took one for the team and waited 25 minutes,’ he continued. ‘When I got back to our seats, I expected my wife to say, “Thank you, honey,” but she already held [a honey deuce]so she was like, “I don’t want it.”
The fan in question claims that his wife was not sitting next to him, but in the row below.
The US Open shared a clip of the viral moment, captioning it, “This is cinema.” The clip has since been viewed more than 11 million times on X.
The real wife of the man in question says they have been inundated with messages since the video surfaced, which has given them “a lot of laughs.”
“We emailed the US Open because we were like, ‘Do we get free tickets or something in exchange for this viral video?’” she laughed.