Reds Announcer Is Suspended After Using Homophobic Slur on Air
A Fox Sports announcer who has been calling Major League Baseball games for more than 30 years was suspended on Wednesday night, the Cincinnati Reds said, after he used a homophobic slur during a live broadcast of a Reds doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals.
“The Cincinnati Reds organization is devastated by the horrific, homophobic remark made this evening by broadcaster Thom Brennaman,” the team said in a statement. “He was pulled off the air, and effective immediately was suspended from doing Reds broadcasts.”
The Reds said the organization planned to address Mr. Brennaman’s remarks with its broadcast team in the coming days. The team said it embraced a “zero-tolerance policy” against bias and discrimination and “we are truly sorry to anyone who has been offended.”
“In no way does this incident represent our players, coaches, organization, or our fans,” the team said. “We share our sincerest apologies to the LGBTQ+ community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across this country, and beyond.”
Mr. Brennaman, 56, was suspended after videos circulated widely on social media showing him apparently caught on a live mic on Wednesday night describing a place as “one of the fag capitals of the world.” It was not clear where he was referring to.
After the slur was broadcast, Mr. Brennaman segued into a promotion of the Reds’ pregame show.
The comment stirred outrage on social media, with some fans calling for him to be fired. Later Wednesday night, Mr. Brennaman apologized for his remarks, saying he was “deeply ashamed.”
“I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again,” Mr. Brennaman said in the on-air apology, which he briefly interrupted to announce a home run by the Reds’ Nick Castellanos. “I don’t know if it’s going to be for the Reds. I don’t know if it’s going to be for my bosses at Fox.”
Mr. Brennaman said he wanted to apologize to the “people who sign my paycheck,” to the Reds, to Fox Sports Ohio and to “anybody that I’ve offended here tonight.”
“I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am,” he said. “That is not who I am. It never has been. And I’d like to think maybe I could have some people that could back that up. I am very, very sorry and I beg for your forgiveness.”
Mr. Brennaman then said he was signing off and handing over announcing duties for the rest of the night to another longtime announcer at Fox Sports, Jim Day.
Fox Sports and Major League Baseball did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Wednesday night.
Chris Seelbach, the first openly gay member of the Cincinnati City Council, said it was “incredibly disappointing to hear Mr. Brennaman use such language of hate when our country is begging for unity.”
“The Brennaman family are Cincinnati sports icons with a powerful voice in our community, which makes it even more disgusting and totally unprofessional to hear such language used,” Mr. Seelbach wrote on Twitter on Wednesday night. “The Reds have been proud supporters of their LGBTQ+ fans, and this language cannot be tolerated. Period.”
The son of Marty Brennaman, the first broadcaster inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame, Thom Brennaman completed his 25th year at Fox Sports in 2018, according to the network. He has been calling Major League Baseball games for more than 30 years, including more than 13 years as a member of the Reds’ TV and radio broadcast team.
Mr. Brennaman’s slur was just the latest homophobic incident in the baseball world.
In 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays suspended outfielder Kevin Pillar for two games after he shouted an anti-gay slur at Atlanta Braves reliever Jason Motte, who had struck Pillar out with a quick pitch.
In 2018, Atlanta Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb apologized for racist, homophobic and sexist tweets he had sent as a teenager. That year Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader, who pitched in the All-Star Game, also apologized for racist and homophobic Twitter posts in 2011 that had surfaced during the game.
