Oakland Athletics play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper was let go by NBC Sports California after he uttered a racial slur during a game broadcast earlier this month.
“Following an internal review, the decision has been made for NBC Sports California to end its relationship with Glen Kuiper, effective immediately,” a spokesperson for NBC Sports California said in a statement shared Monday with The Washington Post. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years.”
When Kuiper made the miscue, neither he nor color analyst Dallas Braden, who was on camera next to him at the time, offered any reaction. Later in the telecast, Kuiper addressed it, telling viewers: “I said something [that] didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to. And I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said.”
The A’s then issued a statement calling Kuiper’s language “unacceptable.” The team said it was “working to address the situation.”
A person with knowledge of the situation said Monday that the decision to part ways with Kuiper was based on a variety of factors, including information uncovered in the internal review.
Kuiper, 60, was in his 20th year of doing play-by-play in Oakland’s TV booth. He is a younger brother of former Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants player Duane Kuiper, who calls Giants games on TV and radio.
Braden, a former pitcher for the A’s, issued a statement several days after Kuiper’s on-air gaffe in which he shared an explanation for why he did not appear to react. Braden said because of the “nuances of live television,” including listening to producers and forming thoughts on what next to say, he was not immediately “aware that anything in the broadcast was amiss.”
Stating that “this incident has, indeed, impacted me greatly,” Braden offered support for Kuiper’s “work in understanding the impact and hurt resulting from this unfortunate mistake.”
“When issues around race occur, I’m always interested in having conversations aimed at finding healing and advancing collaborative discussions,” Braden, 39, added at the time. “I have reached out to have those conversations, and I have listened, and I have learned. I will continue to seek clarity, encourage learning, and engage in dialogue to bring out the best in our diverse community.”
After he was suspended, Kuiper said in a statement: “I could not be more sorry and horrified by what I said. I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies.”
Kuiper has been replaced on an interim basis by a rotation of team radio broadcasters Vince Cotroneo and Johnny Doskow.