“Why be racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic when you could just be quiet?”
My favorite artist, Frank Ocean, wore a shirt with that quote during a 2017 performance and I think about it often.
It’s that same quote that came to my mind when I heard what now-former Reds announcer Thom Brennaman said on Wednesday night’s broadcast. He used a homophobic slur in an incredibly derogatory manner while he wasn’t aware he was on the air. His words were caught on video and were widely spread across the internet in a short amount of time. Once word got back to Brennaman about what happened, he issued an on-air apology.
“I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith,” Brennaman said while simultaneously calling a home run. “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again … I am very, very sorry. I beg for your forgiveness.”
Brennaman excused himself from the broadcast during the bottom of the fifth inning and Jim Day announced the remainder of the game. The Cincinnati Reds have since suspended him from Reds broadcasts and FOX Sports pulled him from calling NFL games.
This entire situation deeply disappointed me. It’s already horrible enough that Brennaman has incredibly offensive language in his vocabulary, but this situation goes a step further since it was an accident. If the broadcast had come back from a commercial break just 5 seconds later, this story would likely have never seen the light of day. Brennaman would have finished calling the rest of the game and continued his life like normal.
But here we are.
I can’t help but wonder how many times he’s said things like this before. Who was he talking to? Who did he feel comfortable enough to talk like this with? Is there someone on that broadcast crew who was hurt by those words? Is Brennaman sorry about what he said or sorry that he got caught?
And I can’t help but sympathize with LGBTQ+ fans who had to hear what Brennaman said last night. I’m so sorry, and you deserve better.
Brennaman was 100% wrong for what he said and it serves as a wake-up call — the sports media needs to be diversified. I don’t want to insinuate that anyone on that FOX Sports Ohio broadcast crew uses homophobic slurs, but if language like this has ever been tolerated, they must be better. Sports media professionals must be held to a higher standard and must be held accountable for their actions, as they have access to millions of homes around the country and are admired by many.
Since last night, the Reds organization and two Reds players, Amir Garrett and Matt Bowman, came out in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
“As a member of the Reds organization, I am so sorry for the way you were marginalized tonight,” Bowman wrote in a tweet. “There will always be a place for you in the baseball community and we are so happy to have you here.”
Diversity and inclusion in sports media is something I’ve been committed to since deciding to get into the business as a young woman. And although I cannot change what happened yesterday, I can promise to hold myself and my colleagues accountable for their words and actions. I am committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for readers, viewers, writers, editors and everyone involved in sports storytelling.
There’s no room for hate in sports.