Sportsnet sacks Jays analyst Zaun after women complain
TORONTO — Gregg Zaun has been fired from Sportsnet due to “inappropriate behaviour and comments” toward female employees.
Rick Brace, president of Rogers Media, said in a statement Thursday that the company was terminating the contract of the MLB studio analyst effective immediately.
“This week, we received complaints from multiple female employees at Sportsnet regarding inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Zaun in the workplace,” the statement said. “After investigating the matter, we decided to terminate his contract, effective immediately. This type of behaviour completely contradicts our standards and our core values. We believe in a professional workplace where all employees feel comfortable and respected. We are grateful to our employees who spoke with us and we will take every measure to protect their privacy.”
The former Toronto Blue Jays catcher began a part-time broadcasting career with Sportsnet following the 2006 season. He initially signed a two-year deal as a MLB studio analyst with Sportsnet in 2011 and continued working with the network until his termination.
Zaun, 46, played 16 major league seasons, including five years in Toronto from 2004-2008. He captured a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 1997.
Zaun’s dismissal comes at a time when allegations of sexual harassment are widespread in the film industry, politics and the newsroom with prominent figures such as producer Harvey Weinstein and Today Show host Matt Lauer among those accused.
Sportsnet.ca reported there were no allegations of physical or sexual assault.
Zaun did not immediately return a request for comment. Longtime co-host Jamie Campbell said he had no comment.
NEW YORK — Fired Today coanchor Matt Lauer issued an apology Thursday in response to allegations of sexual misbehaviour that cost him his job at NBC News.
“There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions,” Lauer said in a statement. “To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul-searching and I’m committed to beginning that effort.”
Lauer, 59, lost his job on Tuesday night, a day after NBC executives heard a formal complaint from a female network employee who said Lauer engaged in inappropriate behaviour throughout 2014, including while Today was broadcasting from Sochi, Russia, to cover the Winter Olympics.
Since NBC announced Lauer’s firing, the New York Times and Variety have published detailed accounts of other women who complained of inappropriate behaviour by the co-anchor.
Also Thursday, Geraldo Rivera apologized for calling the news business “flirty” in the wake of Lauer’s firing.
The Fox News reporter tweeted Wednesday that “News is a flirty business & it seems like [the] current epidemic of #Sex HarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship [and] conflating it [with] predation.”
Responding to his statements, Fox News Channel issued a statement saying Rivera’s tweets do not reflect the views of Fox News or its management. Rivera apologized hours later, saying he “didn’t sufficiently explain that this is a horrendous problem long hidden” and “harassers are deviants who deserve what is coming to them.”
But following his apology, singer Bette Midler renewed an allegation of sexual misconduct against him, saying Rivera and another man drugged and groped her in a bathroom in the 1970s. She related the incident in a 1991 interview with Barbara Walters.
In another development, music producer Russell Simmons stepped away from his companies following a second allegation of sexual misconduct.
Screenwriter Jenny Lumet — the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet — wrote an essay published by The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday in which she recalled a night around 1991 when Simmons had sex with her, despite her repeated demands that he stop.
Simmons said in a statement released after the essay’s publication that Lumet’s memory of the night is “very different” from his, but it’s clear to him “that her feelings of fear and intimidation are real.”
And award-winning playwright-screenwriter Israel Horovitz, who faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, has departed from the Gloucester Stage Company. The Massachusetts-based theatre announced Thursday that Horovitz had left after officials there confronted him about a New York Times story detailing the allegations.