News
2007-03-02
Celtics
broadcaster apologizes on-air for sexist remarks
Boston Celtics
radio analyst Cedric Maxwell apologized on the air
Wednesday night for saying that a female referee should ''go
Boston Celtics
radio analyst Cedric Maxwell apologized on the air
Wednesday night for saying that a female referee should ''go
back to the kitchen'' after he disagreed with one of
her calls.
Maxwell made the
comment during the Celtics' 77–72 victory over the
Houston Rockets on Monday. He subsequently said, ''Go in
there and make me some bacon and eggs, would you?'' in
reference to referee Violet Palmer.
''If I said
anything that might have been insensitive or sexist in any
way, then I apologize because she worked extremely hard to
get where she is now, end of quote,'' Maxwell said
before the Celtics' game against the New York Knicks
on WEEI AM, which is owned by Entercom Communications.
''This really has
been a firestorm,'' he added later.
Maxwell's
co-announcer, Sean Grande, followed the apology by saying
their show would not change. ''We are not changing the
way we do our jobs because of the tendency of media
outlets to present people's comments in a way that
serves their story,'' Grande said.
Maxwell declined
further comment following the on-air exchange.
Jason Wolfe,
Entercom's vice president of AM programming and operations
in Boston, said the station does not condone Maxwell's
comments, which he called a poor attempt at humor.
''Cedric is an
excellent analyst and has been an exemplary employee in
the more than 10 years I've known and worked with him,''
Wolfe said in a statement.
Entercom owns
WEEI and WRKO AM. Celtics games are usually broadcast on
WRKO, but Monday and Wednesday night's games were on WEEI.
Maxwell is a
former Celtics player and the MVP of the 1981 finals, won by
Boston 4–2 over the Rockets. The team retired his
number in 2003.
Entercom fired
former WRKO talk show host John DePetro in November after
he called Green Party gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a
''fat lesbian'' on the air. DePetro later apologized.
(AP)
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