SiriusXM Host Fired for Trashing the Idea of Watching the WNBA: ‘Is There a Gun in the House? I’ll Shoot Myself’
Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for SiriusXM
SiriusXM fired golf analyst and former PGA Tour winner Mark Lye over the weekend after he touted suicide as being a better option than watching the WNBA.
“You know, the LPGA Tour to me is a completely different tour than it was 10 years ago…You couldn’t pay me to watch,” Lye said on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “You really couldn’t. Because I just, I couldn’t relate at all. It’s kind of like, you know, if you’re a basketball player — and I’m not trashing anybody. Please, don’t take it the wrong way — but I saw some highlights of ladies’ basketball. Man, is there a gun in the house? I’ll shoot myself than watch that.”
@NoLayingUp Mark Lye on pga tour radio just now. Whole station needs to be burned to the ground. pic.twitter.com/YFeTkrNG39
— Jill Lawson (@Jalawsons) February 5, 2022
The rant about women’s basketball came during an apparent attempt at complimenting women’s sports, specifically the LPGA. Although Lye made sure to declare, “I’m not trashing anybody,” saying you’d rather shoot yourself than watch the WNBA is worse than “trashing” female athletes.
Lye went on to explain that despite never liking women’s golf, he used to host a tournament that featured LPGA players and PGA Tour players.
“Good luck getting some WNBA stars to come play for you,” Lye’s co-host Kraig Kann joked.
“Yeah, I know, I know,” Lye said. “I’m off their list. I’m sorry about that.”
Lye is off the WNBA’s list and he’s off SiriusXM Radio. The 69-year-old confirmed to GOLF.com Sunday that he was “terminated about comments made about the WNBA, which I apologized for starting the next segment.”
Lye later defended himself on Twitter, citing “cancel culture” for his departure from SiriusXM and claiming his comments about the WNBA do not make him sexist.
“The fact that I can’t relate to WNBA does not make me sexist in any way,” Lye wrote on Twitter. “All you haters should listen to the whole segment, where I completely glorified womens golf, which I love to cover. Thanks for listening.”
The fact that I can’t relate to WNBA does not make me sexist in any way. All you haters should listen to the whole segment, where I completely glorified womens golf, which I love to cover. Thanks for listening.
— mark lye (@letitflye) February 6, 2022
Lye previously spent 18 years on the PGA Tour and 18 years as an analyst for the Golf Channel.
