What did Anthony Bass post? Blue Jays pitcher apologizes for sharing anti-LGBTQIA+ Instagram video
Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass issued a public apology on Tuesday after sharing an anti-LGBTQIA+ post on social media the previous day.
Bass reposted a video to his Instagram story that promoted the boycott of Target and Bud Light for each company’s recent support of the LGBTQIA+ community. The video contained within it anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, harmful stereotypes of the community and described the LGBTQIA+ Pride campaigns run by each business as “evil” and “demonic.”
Bass didn’t comment on the video in his initial post. He simply shared it. However, he later removed it from his social media profiles.
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Per ESPN, Bass apologized to Blue Jays manager John Schneider and general manager Ross Atkins before speaking to the team and, later, making a statement to reporters on hand for the Blue Jays vs. Brewers game.
“I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine. I am truly sorry for that,” Bass said. “I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday. I apologized with them, and as of right now I am using the Blue Jays’ resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward.
“The ballpark is for everybody. We include all fans at the ballpark. We want to welcome everybody. That’s all I have to say.”
Statement from Anthony Bass: pic.twitter.com/UXLrx1HVO5
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 30, 2023
Bass did not take questions after his statement.
Meanwhile, Schneider clarified that Bass’ post “doesn’t represent our overall feelings as an organization” while the Blue Jays said in a statement “individual player sentiments are not representative of the club’s beliefs.”
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This isn’t the first time that Bass has been in the headlines this season for his activity on social media. Earlier in the year, he drew criticism after complaining that a flight attendant on United asked his pregnant wife to pick up popcorn that the couple’s youngest daughter had spilled during a flight.
He has since deleted his Twitter account.
Published at Wed, 31 May 2023 02:53:27 +0000
