The Philadelphia Flyers issued an apology Tuesday for “disrespectful remarks” made by members of the team’s social media staff on Tuesday, posting a statement in an attempt to limit the damage that will inevitably come from a gaffe that the organization didn’t need.
The comments came during the response to a reporter’s question of Garnet Hathaway during a virtual news conference. The question the reporter asked was totally relevant to the Flyers’ situation and essentially, the Flyers social media team got caught with a hot mic bashing both the reporter and the team.
Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones said in a statement:
“On behalf of the entire Flyers organization, I want to extend our apologies.” He adds, “Any disrespect towards reporters is completely unacceptable, especially when they are simply doing their job. We have reached out to the reporter and outlet personally to express our regret, and will continue to promote an environment of mutual respect when working with media.”
At first, there was uncertainty from a number of fans that this really happened, or was as bad as the statement was making it out to be. When the clips circulated on social media Tuesday, it turned out to be worse. You can see in the video below that the reporter asks Hathaway why he was attracted to the idea of join an organization like the Flyers during a rebuild. A voice in the streamed recording can be heard saying, “How many times is she going to ask this f—— question?”
From there, as Hathaway is trying to be professional and answer the question, additional voices are also heard saying things like ‘why would anyone want to play here’ and ‘this team sucks’. Hathaway did his best to pretend as though there was no disruption, but it was clear everyone was a bit stunned.
The Flyers did not name the reporter in their statement and it’s not clear what repercussions will come to the members of the social media team that were involved in the incident.
Not a Good Look for the Flyers
While there might be thoughts in people’s minds when it comes to players joining the Flyers during a rebuild, those are thoughts typically not said in a public forum, especially by employees of the team in question. Hathaway was among those players to join Philadelphia during free agency, signing a two-year, $4.75 million contract.
The Flyers finished with a 31-38-13 record last season and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight year. They underwent major management changes and are trying to steer this team in a positive direction. This doesn’t help.
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