A Tennessee weatherman jumped into hot water over the weekend when he made an alleged racist remark about Draymond Green. As the Golden State Warriors were battling it on the court against the Memphis Grizzlies, meteorologist Joey Sulipeck fired off a tweet that read: “And chew on this: Draymond runs his knuckle-dragging open mouth ALL GAME LONG, but mild-mannered Kyle Anderson disputes one call and gets ejected? Next level jackassery.”
It was argued that Sulipeck was comparing Green to an ape or a monkey which has long been a racist trope against Black people for centuries. The backlash was swift, with Evan Barnes, a football reporter, writing, “Emotions are high right now among teams and fans over the play in question but this right here? @joeysulipeck – unacceptable. Memo to @FOX13Memphis – talk to your mans and check him. This is over the line and I won’t stand for it. This is bullsh*t.”
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Sulipeck deleted his comment but the screenshots lived and were quickly shared on social media. He would later re-emerge on Twitter to deny that his comment was intended to be racist. “Anyone who knows me knows what I am. Race is never an issue to me. To anyone who was offended, I apologize but there was no ill intent.” Still, the criticism became too much for the weatherman and he deleted his Twitter account in its entirety.
Meanwhile, his news station stated that they are looking into the matter.
“During Saturday’s Memphis Grizzlies’ game, Meteorologist Joey Sulipeck tweeted a comment that does not reflect the values of FOX13,” the station tweeted. “We take this matter very seriously and will take appropriate action pending a full investigation.” Green added his voice to the controversy and it doesn’t look like he’ll be accepting any apologies anytime soon.
“Also, I don’t believe in cancel culture. This is not a cancel attempt. Just stand on your words. ACCOUNTABILITY,” Green wrote. “Yours truly, THE NEW MEDIA.” Read through it all below.
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