Sportsnet fires baseball commentator Gregg Zaun
Female colleagues complained about ‘inappropriate behaviour’ by former Blue Jay, network says
Former Blue Jay and Sportsnet commentator Gregg Zaun has been fired by the broadcaster after several female employees came forward with allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Rick Brace, president of Rogers Media, which owns Sportsnet, said in a statement emailed to the Star on Thursday night that an unspecified number of women at Sportsnet complained about Zaun to management.
“After investigating the matter, we decided to terminate his contract, effective immediately,” Brace said in the statement.
“This type of behaviour completely contradicts our standards and our core values,” the statement said. “We are grateful to our employees who spoke with us and we will take every measure to protect their privacy.”
It isn’t clear exactly what the behaviour entailed, or how many women came forward. Rogers Media refused to provide any additional details Thursday night.
Bob McCown, the host of Prime Time Sports, first announced Zaun’s dismissal on air Thursday evening. Jamie Campbell, Zaun’s longtime co-anchor, declined to comment when reached by the Star on Thursday night.
Zaun did not immediately respond to a phone call and email message on Thursday night requesting comment.
The allegations against Zaun come in the wake of accusations of sexual assault, rape and harassment made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in October. Since then, a number of high-profile men, including actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Louie C.K., Senator Al Franken and television hosts Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer, have been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Zaun was born and raised in California. He played for Team USA at the 1989 World Junior Championship, winning gold, and also played in the U.S. Olympic Festival.
He started his 16-year professional baseball career when he signed for the Baltimore Orioles that year. He was a catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2004 to 2008.
He went on to play for the Florida Marlins, with whom he won a World Series title.
He retired from professional baseball in 2011 and became a full-time analyst with Rogers Sportsnet.
Zaun is known for his opinionated streak and flashy suits, earning him a comparison to Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry. He’s also been tagged for posting, then deleting controversial messages on Twitter.
In one case back in 2012, he called women in a Toronto bar “tubby, unfortunately man-ish, and super stuck up,” but later apologized, claiming that the women he was referring to were mistreating several female friends of his.
“It’s something that I regret doing,” he told the Star at the time.
Reaction from the sports community on Twitter started shortly after Sportsnet announced Zaun’s termination. Sarah Spain, a commentator on ESPN, cited it as #MeToo’s first major incursion into the world of sports.
“The first domino has fallen,” she wrote on Twitter. “Can only imagine the fitful sleep of all the perpetrators out there who have, up until now, enjoyed the safety of an industry long (overdue) for a reckoning.”