Jeremy Roenick has filed a lawsuit against NBC for firing him over “jokes” he made on Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. According to a report in Variety, Roenick claims NBC discriminated against him as a straight man and because of his outspoken support for President Trump.
Jeremy Roenick’s tasteless “joke” about Kathryn Tappen
During a December Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, which is notorious for moments like these, Roenick talked about his NBC co-host, Kathryn Tappen in a sexual way. He went into a story about how they were on vacation and both Tappen and Roenick’s wife were in bikinis “looking f***ing smoking”.
It only got worse from there, as he was asked about other people thinking they were doing a threesome. Of course, it wasn’t all JR trying to be funny, as he heaped tons of praise on Tappen’s professional ability in a male dominated business.
Regardless, NBC suspended JR after he apologized then subsequently fired him.
Jeremy Roenick responds to being fired
After being fired, Roenick didn’t just go away quietly. He issued a public statement and posted it all over social media with the headline “What a Joke!!”
JR expressed his “disappointment and anger” over NBC’s decision. He thanked people for their support and promised he would be back more motivated than ever.
Roenick’s claims in NBC lawsuit
Apparently that anger and motivation came in the form of a lawsuit today. In it he claims that his firing was unlawful and that his boss, Sam Flood attacked him for supporting Trump.
“The hockey star alleges that Flood subsequently made derogatory remarks about Trump to Roenick, such as ‘your boy is messing up this country.’ Roenick alleges that his support for Trump was one of the reasons leading to his firing.”
Variety“
The case didn’t end with just Trump. Roenick’s suit then cited two NBC figure skating commentators who used vulgar language and made sexual innuendos about other athletes during a spoof video. Neither faced suspension or was let go.
Roenick stated that he spoke with Flood about the double standard. Per the suit, Flood told him because one of the commentators was gay, that gave him license to “say whatever.”
This sure sounds like it’s going to get much uglier as the lawsuit works its way through the judicial system, and the court of public opinion.