Epic was forced to withdraw the new "Bear Hug" emote from Fortnite after a glitch made the animation a little suspect.

The emote was supposed to be just two players hugging, but due to an unfortunate glitch, it no longer looked like just a hug when one player crouched just before the animation was executed. The glitch was caught by Twitter user @DatOneJackalope and was removed from the game shortly thereafter.

It's sad to see such a hilarious thing disappear, but it makes sense that Epic had to remove it. With celebrities like LeBron James and Ariana Grande as in-game characters, Fortnite's main audience is, after all, children, and Epic would not want to get into trouble with their management by allowing users to recreate racy poses with their likenesses

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According to the Fortnite Status Twitter account, those who purchased the emote will get their V-bucks refunded. Also, the emote will remain disabled until the issue is fixed, meaning that anyone who used the emote on their account will not be able to use it now.

It is currently unclear when the emotes will be reinstated, but refunds are expected to take place within the next week, so it is likely that they will be reinstated after that time.

The Bear Hug emote first debuted as part of Ariana Grande's Virtual Fortnight concert, which took place August 6-8. We hope that it will be revised and revived so that this ordeal will not be forgotten.