TV Anchor Suspended After 'Lynch Tiger' Quip

Comment sparks uproar, call for firing
By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 10, 2008 6:29 AM CST
TV Anchor Suspended After 'Lynch Tiger' Quip
Rev. Al Sharpton. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)   (Associated Press)

A golf commentator's quip that the only way young challengers could defeat super pro Tiger Woods would be to "lynch him" has earned her a two-week suspension and sparked a furor. The Golf Channel's lead anchor Kelly Tilghman made the comments in response to an on-air analyst's jokey suggestion that golfers should "gang up" to take on Woods. "Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman piped in.

The anchor, who has known Woods personally for 12 years, promptly apologized to him and her viewers. Activist preacher Al Sharpton blasted the comment as "racist" and has called for Tilghman to be sacked, and the Golf Channel decried Tilghman's words as "hurtful and grossly inappropriate." Woods' agent shrugged off the incident, calling it a "non-issue—case closed." (More golf stories.)

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