Hockey Night in Canada Broadcaster Under Fire After Making Apparent Homophobic Joke on Live TV

Brandon ContesMay 26th, 2021, 11:24 am
 

Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean left his co-anchor cringing Tuesday night, after the 61-year-old sportscaster made a bizarre joke that appeared to have homophobic connotations.

The insensitive comment came during the second intermission of Tuesday night’s national broadcast of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens on Sportsnet. After Hockey Night in Canada panelist Kevin Bieksa offered his analysis during the second intermission, MacLean responded with a crude remark.

“You have a photo of a guy with his tarp off, you’re definitely positive for something,” MacLean said. Some on social media theorized that “a guy with his tarp off” is describing a shirtless man, and “definitely positive” refers to HIV positive.

Sitting next to MacLean, co-host Jennifer Botterill seemed visibly uncomfortable at the awkward joke. Wednesday afternoon, MacLean posted a tweet explaining that his banter attempt was misunderstood.

In 2019, MacLean’s employer, Sportsnet fired Don Cherry following a rant in which he alleged Canadian immigrants don’t show enough support for the military. Now Sportsnet has to decide if MacLean’s comment was anything more than just a misunderstanding.

MacLean’s joke added to what was already a controversial evening for Hockey Night in Canada, after a tweet from their social media team about Stephen A. Smith appeared to feed into racial stereotypes.

Watch above via, Sportsnet

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