Taylor Twellman is on hiatus from his role as the top match analyst for Apple TV+ following an alleged altercation with a production assistant in Miami last month.
The Athletic’s Pablo Maurer reports that Twellman was removed from Game 3 of Inter Miami’s playoff series and that Major League Soccer is investigating.
According to Maurer, the Oct. 25 broadcast of Game 1 between Inter Miami and Atlanta United was interrupted by audio hiccups, a frequent issue for Apple. Amid those issues, “Twellman allegedly made physical contact with an audio engineer in the commentary booth,” according to Maurer. The assistant reportedly worked for a third party, Program Productions.
As MLS searches for evidence of Twellman getting physical with the assistant, video is hard to find. Apple does not shoot in the broadcast booth due to challenges related to broadcasting in multiple languages. According to Maurer, just four people were in the booth at the time of the alleged incident: Twellman, the assistant, announcer Jake Zivin, and one additional technician. The assistant filed a union grievance against Twellman, which spurred the MLS investigation.
Twellman is currently scheduled to call his next game on Nov. 23 for the streamer as part of its exclusive broadcasting partnership with MLS.
The former MLS MVP is among the most recognizable American soccer analysts. From 2011-23, he called MLS and UEFA European championship action for ESPN. Last year, Apple hired him as the lead analyst for MLS Season Pass.
Color commentator Danny Higginbotham replaced Twellman on the call for Game 3 between Miami and Atlanta.
The MLS season ends Dec. 7 with the MLS Cup Final on Apple TV+.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.