Analyst Fired for Discussing Co-Worker's 'Boobs': I'm the Victim

Jeremy Roenick, formerly of NBC Sports, sues, claiming anti-straight discrimination
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2020 9:50 AM CDT
Analyst Fired for Discussing Co-Worker's 'Boobs': I'm the Victim
Former Chicago Blackhawks player Jeremy Roenick is surrounded by fans in a Stanley Cup Final game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Chicago on June 8, 2015.   (John Starks/Daily Herald via AP, File)

Former hockey star and NBC Sports analyst Jeremy Roenick has sued the network, claiming he was discriminated against for being straight. Roenick was fired after a December appearance on the Barstool Sports podcast "Spittin' Chiclets," where he mentioned wanting a threesome with his wife and a co-worker during a vacation in Portugal. "I'm swimming with my wife and Kathryn [Tappen], and they've got their bikinis on, and they look f—in' smokin'," Roenick said, per Variety. "Ass and boobs everywhere." He added he would like to "go to bed" with both women, per the New York Daily News. Tappen called Roenick's comments "unacceptable." In a wrongful termination lawsuit filed Friday in New York Supreme Court, Roenick claims NBC discriminated against him "because of his sex and sexual orientation" and his support of President Trump.

Roenick argues NBC figure skating commentator Johnny Weir used vulgar language and commented on skaters' bodies during the 2018 Olympics without suspension or termination. Roenick's suit also cites a promotional video that insinuated an affair between Weir and fellow commentator Tara Lipinski. But Roenick says supervisor Sam Flood—the same person who told him he was fired—said Weir "is gay and can say whatever." Roenick also claims Flood made derogatory comments about Trump—including that "your boy is messing up this country"—and told him that speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention "would not look good on your NBC record." NBC refused to comment on the suit, per Deadline. But openly gay former hockey player Brock McGillis tells Deadspin that Roenick's argument and mention of Weir is "the epitome of privilege." (More Jeremy Roenick stories.)

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