There have been many notable hot mic blunders over the years, but the one from British announcers Simon Reed and Nicky Slater at the world figure skating championships Wednesday is pretty remarkable even by those standards. As per The Canadian Press, Reed (seen at left above) and Slater were calling the International Skating Union’s international YouTube feed (geoblocked in the U.S.), and they dropped some notable insults towards Canadian skater turned coach and analyst Meagan Duhamel (seen at right above, she’s covering the championships for the CBC) and towards several of the current skaters:
British commentator Simon Reed called Duhamel, a two-time world pairs champion, “that bitch from Canada” at the end of Wednesday’s pairs broadcasts, seemingly believing his mic was turned off.
Reed and fellow Brit Nicky Slater laughed after the comment.
…Both said the Russian skaters, who were banned from the event after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, were missed at the world championships. They said they couldn’t tell how many rotations were in a jump since they don’t follow skating. One called a 16-year-old skater “a sight for sore eyes.”
“Hello @ISU_Figure! The commentators on your feed noting that a female partner is ‘taller and heavier’ is just not at all necessary and super inappropriate. That was just one of many ridiculous statements made today,” pairs skater Kirsten Moore-Towers tweeted.
Here’s a tweet recapping what they said:
Uhhh did I hear what I think I heard on the @ISU_Figure stream?
N "we'll see if she liked it, if she tweets"
S "I don't worry about her"
N "we didn't mention her by name (I know you don't)as one of the coaches"
S "the bitch from canada"
(both laugh)
N: "we'll see. well done."— Allison DeVoe (@devoeas) March 23, 2022
The ISU put out a statement Thursday apologizing for the comments from Reid and Slater, and removing them from coverage:
Following the Pairs Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022, an open mic picked up a disrespectful comment made by the two commentators working on the international signal.
— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) March 24, 2022
An internal investigation will follow shortly.
The ISU offered its sincere apologies to Ms. Duhamel for the inappropriate and unacceptable behavior of the two commentators.
— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) March 24, 2022
And, for her part, Duhamel said she received personal apologies from Reed and the federation president:
Skating twitter, I hope we all enjoy some amazing skating today. I have received personal apologies from Simon Reed and the ISU president and I don’t think a public apology is necessary at this point. I appreciate and respect their apologies ❤️
— Meagan Duhamel (@mhjd_85) March 24, 2022
She also had a pretty good line before that Wednesday, and said she wants to be told if she says anything inappropriate on air:
Skating world. If on Saturday when I’m working for CBC Sports, I make ANY inappropriate comments, please let me know. I want to be better and I promise not to call you a bitch ❤️
— Meagan Duhamel (@mhjd_85) March 23, 2022
The apologies are positive, but these are still incredibly ridiculous comments for any announcer to make at any point. And it’s more absurd still for them to be made near a microphone, even if Reed and Slater didn’t realize the mic was live. But this isn’t the first time these two commentators have drawn criticism. Here’s some further commentary on them from skating fans on Twitter:
Looks like Simon Reed was fired. He was an idiot & don’t know why Eurosport kept him on for so long. Bring on commentators that actually know the sport & not take jabs at a skater’s weight or call an Olympic Gold Medalist that bitch from Canada when he thinks no one is listening
— Karen (@falling_leaf) March 24, 2022
Finally, ISU did something RIGHT!
Simon Reed & Nicky Slater have NO business ever Commentating ANY Skating event again. Even leaving aside their sexist & profoundly unprofessional remarks, they're INCOMPETENT – "I can't tell how many ROTATIONS" a jump had!?! Bare minimum, ISU. https://t.co/M5OQFGeT0Y
— KatsuDauntless (@KatsuDauntless) March 24, 2022
Totally agree – fed up with Simon Reed n Nicky slater – white middle aged Brit men w sexist euro-centric chauvinistic views, no analysis of figure skating, reel off the “narrative”, no educative commentary, drives me round the twist,I mute them tbh. Never do their research either
— pammi (@mycrystalmemory) March 23, 2022
Simon Reed & Nicky Slater were the Commentators on @ISU_Figure's feed. & they were VILE.
They were also ignorant, kept deliberately misgendering a nonbinary Skater, couldn't tell how many rotations were in jumps (!!!), & were misogynistic, hate-spewing, drunk-sounding SCUM.
— KatsuDauntless (@KatsuDauntless) March 24, 2022
It’s notable that some skaters, including Canadian Kaitlyn Weaver and American Adam Rippon, turned this into a positive though:
100% really most definitely want a shirt that says “that b!tch from Canada”
— Kaitlyn Weaver (@kaitlynonice) March 24, 2022
Just saying I would buy “that bitch from Canada” merch
— Adam Rippon (@AdamRippon) March 24, 2022
At any rate, the ISU has brought in Ted Barton for commentary, and that appears to be going much better:
SO happy to hear the voice of Ted Barton commentating #WorldFigure2022 this morning! What happened yesterday crossed every line. @ISU_Figure
— IFS Magazine (@ifsmagazine) March 24, 2022
We’ll see if anything further comes of this.
[CBC; Reed photo from his Twitter profile, Duhamel photo from the CBC]
