Tennis fans are calling for sports commentator Doug Adler to be sacked for a comment made during Venus William’s second-round match at the Australian Open.
Viewers believe the 59-year-old former tennis pro, who is currently employed by U.S. television station ESPN, compared the world number 17’s on-court pressure to that of an ape.
“She misses a first serve and Venus is all over her,” Adler said. “You see Venus move in and put the gorilla effect on. Charging.”
One of those enraged by the statement is New York Times tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, who described the comment as "appalling stuff".
“Horrifying that the Williams sisters remained subjected to it still in 2017," he tweeted.
This is some appalling stuff. Horrifying that the Williams sisters remain subjected to it still in 2017. #AusOpen https://t.co/LJgieHgyuh
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 19, 2017
Many others agreed.
"Doug Adler's said some awful things in the commentary booth before, but this is next-level disgusting," fellow tennis writer Victoria Chiesa wrote.
That is unacceptable commentary. Appalling stuff. https://t.co/hsWgXo6rJn
— Richard Ings (@ringsau) January 19, 2017
Doug Adler needs to apologize to Venus and fired from @ESPN. Under no circumstances do you make an analogy of a gorilla to a woman of color
— Shanna ???? (@PinaCocoblog) January 18, 2017
While Adler nor ESPN have spoken on the rogue comment, others were confused by the furore, explaining they interpreted Adler's description as “guerrilla”.
@BenRothenberg Not a native speaker, but any way he was pronouncing guerilla?
— Iva Stoyanova (@iva_ds87) January 19, 2017
"Maybe he meant "guerrilla effect", as in warrior charging?" one viewer suggested.
"I was listening to this feed and it did not come across as a racial epithet."
Reportedly, Adler later apologised while commentating the mens Escobedo-Ferrer match, saying he was sorry for the confusion caused, clarifying he was referring to the term "guerrilla warfare".
Top Comments
My lord. These people are way too sensitive. It was obvious he was referring to her aggressive style of play when she moved inside the court to pounce on her opponent's second serve.
Look, I love the Williams sisters. And I hate that they get crap for bring strong and muscular, and I do believe some of that has got racial undertones. But honestly, I don't think there was anything racial or derogatory in this. Gorillas are well known for charging opponents or threats as a form of intimidation. They're pretty famous for it actually. Williams was adopting a similar technique by charging into the net. It was a good was to describe what she was doing. Sometimes people need to stop looking for offence, especially when there's another simple explanation.