Fox Sports Broadcaster Caught On Hot Mic: ‘One Of The Fag Capitals Of The World’

Thom Brennaman, longtime Fox Sports broadcaster for major league baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, is the latest sportscaster to experience a hot mic gaffe and it may cost him his job. Moments after the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game, the 56-year-old sportscaster apparently didn’t realize his mic was hot as the listeners heard Brennaman say, “One of the fag capitals of the world.” He went on to call the remainder of the first game and the first four innings of the second game while a clip of the slur went viral on social media. Then, more than two hours after the gaffe, during the fifth inning of the second game, Brennaman issued an apology for using the slur saying he was “deeply ashamed” — interrupting the mea cupla to call a home run — before turning over play-by-play duties to Jim Day. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I’m so very, very sorry,” Brennaman told his listeners. “I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith — as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run, so that will make it a 4-0 ballgame.” “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again,” he added. “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. I want to apologize to the people who sign my paycheck, for the Reds, for Fox Sports Ohio, for the people I work with, for anybody I’ve offended here tonight.” “I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am. That is not who I am, it never has been, and I’d like to think that maybe I could have some people that could back that up. I am very, very sorry, and I beg for your forgiveness. You hear the clip that went viral below followed by his apology.

Thom Brennamann likely ends his Reds career tonight LIVE on the air pic.twitter.com/EDzSICgVmx

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 19, 2020

BREAKING: Thom Brennaman responds to apparent homophobic slur live on air. Jim Day is now broadcasting. @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/n3L0wZ2BWd

— Trevor Peters (@TrevorPetersTV) August 20, 2020

Brennaman is a Cincinnati native who has been doing play-by-play of MLB games for more than three decades including calling Reds games since 2007. The Reds issued a statement afterward saying the team was “devastated by the horrific, homophobic remark” and announcing Brennaman had been suspended.

pic.twitter.com/cdmmqsGjlg

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 20, 2020

Even before the Reds had issued their statement, Cincinnati pitcher Amir Garrett tweeted, “To the LGBTQ community just know I am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me. I’m sorry for what was said today.”

To the LGBTQ community just know I am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me. I’m sorry for what was said today.

— CountOnAG (@Amir_Garrett) August 20, 2020

Chris Seelbach, the Cincinnati’s first openly gay councilman, issued this statement about the incident: “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. The Reds have been proud supporters of their LGBTQ+ fans, and this language cannot be tolerated. Period. Cincinnati is leading the way for LGBTQ+ equality. We are on the right side of history and it’s incredibly disappointing to hear Mr. Brennaman use such language of hate when our country is begging for unity.” Reading opinions online, there seem to be two camps about this: one wondering if a single mistake should cost you your job, and the second saying there’s no room for homophobia in sportscasting. Of course, homophobia is bad and shouldn’t exist anywhere. I’ll add that after years and years of sitting behind a mic, it’s a bit staggering that Brennaman would such a mistake at this level of broadcasting. But, everyone screws up at some point. What strikes me in this situation is, listening to Brennaman’s voice, he says the word “fag” confidently and with conviction. It doesn’t sound like a word foreign to him, a word he ‘never uses.’ Even as he declares “This is not who I am,” this occurred in a moment he thought he was private. I do think it reveals him to the world a bit. Someone wrote on Twitter that in baseball it’s three strikes and then you’re out. Should Brennaman be terminated? Fined? Demoted? What do you think, readers?