NBC Sports California suspended Oakland A’s play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper after his use of an apparent racial slur during Friday night’s broadcast. According to Matt Kawahara, a spokesperson for the network said, Kuiper “will be off the air until a review of Friday’s incident is completed.”
According to an NBC Sports California spokesperson, Glen Kuiper has been suspended and will be off the air until a review of Friday’s incident is completed.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) May 6, 2023
“I could not be more sorry and horrified by what I said,” Kuiper said Saturday in a statement released by NBC Sports California. “I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies.”
The A’s visited Kansas City to take on the Royals. During this time, Kuiper said something that, when he later apologized for it, “didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to.” He attempted to say, “We had a phenomenal day today, Negro League Museum and Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.”
Instead, Kuiper appeared to say, “We had a phenomenal day today, —– League Museum and Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.”
Below is a video of the incident. Warning, it’s unfiltered and features the word, unfiltered, as well.
For those asking why Glen Kuiper just made an on-air apology, here's why. pic.twitter.com/k1we7gf3GT
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 6, 2023
“I said something that didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to,” Kuiper said later on the broadcast. “I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said.”
Late Friday night, the A’s released a statement. “The language used by Glen Kuiper during today’s pregame broadcast is unacceptable. The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation,” they tweeted.
The language used by Glen Kuiper during today’s pregame broadcast is unacceptable. The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation.
— Oakland A's Communications (@AthleticsPR) May 6, 2023
NBCS California was left with no other move to make here. What’s only left to wonder is if Glen Kuiper called his last game after the apparent use of a racial slur. Which, in a way, is brutally ironic considering that Thom Brennaman called his final game in Kansas City after a disgraceful incident as well.
[Matt Kawahara, Timothy Burke; Photo Credit: NBC Sports California]
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022