Former ESPN tennis broadcaster Doug Adler is suing ESPN after he was fired over comments made about Venus Williams during a match at the Australian Open.
During the match, Williams made a play, causing Adler to say, “You see Venus move in and put the guerrilla effect on… charging.”
Social media exploded, believing Adler had used the offensive term “gorilla.” Adler said he used “guerrilla,” as in the military tactic.
Adler spoke to TMZ about the issue:
“Adler says Twitter freaked out and misunderstood what he was trying to say — wrongly interpreting the comment as racist. Instead, Adler says the term is NOT racist, but rather a ‘frequently used’ word in tennis to describe an aggressive style of play. In fact, Adler says Nike ran a tennis campaign back in the ’90s called ‘Guerrilla Tennis.’
"Adler says ESPN understood what he meant but made him apologize anyway … only to fire him a short time later.”
He is suing for unspecified damages.
ESPN hired Adler in 2008. He has covered all four major tournaments.
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