International cricket superstar Chris Gayle of the West Indies is in the midst of a firestorm surrounding controversial comments during an interview in Australia. Gayle is playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the Australian T20 Big Bash League. During a recent game, Gayle took part in an interview with reporter Mel McLaughlin of Network Ten and made multiple advances towards her, suggesting they go out and get drinks and talking about the look in her eyes.
After trying to laugh through it, the broadcasters came back to actually stand up for their colleague and deem Gayle’s behavior as not appropriate. Here’s video of the interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnLHUr60HK0
The Renegades have agreed. The club fined Gayle $10,000 for his Namath-esque behavior during the interview with their CEO condemning the remarks, via Yahoo Australia:
“Chris’ comments were completely inappropriate and disrespectful. There is simply no place for these type of comments at the Melbourne Renegades.
“The club would like to extend a formal apology to Mel McLaughlin. Mel is an outstanding sports presenter. We think of her very highly and the club and players will ensure we work with her in a professional and respectful manner in future.
“We’ve had several discussions with Chris over the past day and he has acknowledged that his comments were out of line. We would also like to formally apologise to our members, supporters and the wider public for offence caused. The club is based on values of respect towards every member of the community,” said Coventry.
“As a result of his comments, the Renegades have fined Chris $10,000 for inappropriate conduct. The club will subsequently donate this amount to the McGrath Foundation in recognition of Jane McGrath day today.”
Gayle spoke to the press and tried to excuse the comments as a joke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhDEriyggXY&feature=iv&src_vid=lnLHUr60HK0&annotation_id=annotation_389657711
Gayle is one of the most accomplished players in the world of cricket, but this is an unfortunate incident in what has been a great career. Is the fine and backlash deserved for what Gayle probably thought was an off-the-cuff, cheeky remark? Well, Piers Morgan thinks it’s not, which probably means that the stern reaction to Gayle’s comments is perfectly appropriate.
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