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Longtime Oakland Athletics announcer Glen Kuiper was fired on Monday, a little over two weeks after he appeared to use a racial slur on the air during a broadcast of a May 5 Athletics game against the Kansas City Royals, according to Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News.
In a video that has since caused outrage among fans and sports lovers, Kuiper appeared to utter a racial slur while discussing his trip to the Negro League Museum earlier that day.
Kuiper, seemingly attempting to pronounce the word ‘negro', uttered instead what sounded like a slur while talking to colleague and former Athletics starting pitcher Dallas Braden.
Kuiper issued an apology during the later innings of the Athletics game, telling viewers that it “didn't come out quite the way he wanted it to.”
The longtime Athletics announcer, who has been calling games for the past 17 seasons, was suspended earlier in May while NBC Sports California reviewed the incident.
Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Museum, said that the word Kuiper uttered is “painful” but that his heart is “one of forgiveness.”
A source familiar with the investigation told CBS News that Kuiper's firing was “based on a variety of factors”, which reportedly includes the review of the incident.
NBC Sports California said the following in a statement, “Following an internal review, the decision has been made for NBC Sports California to end its relationship with Glen Kuiper, effective immediately,” the network said in a statement Monday. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years.”
