Two weeks ago, Charlotte Hornets broadcaster John Focke was suspended for tweeting out the N-Word. Now, the team has taken the next step to fire him for the mistake.
On Monday, August 17, Focke was tweeting his excitement over the Hornets-Nuggets game when he typed the N-Word in place of “Nuggets.”
Focke quickly deleted the tweet and apologized saying, “Earlier today I made a horrific error while attempting to tweet about the Denver-Utah game.
“I don’t know how I mistyped, I had (and have) no intention of ever using that word. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been sick to my stomach about it ever since. I’m truly sorry that this happened, and I apologize to those I offended.”
Focke also told the Charlotte Observer that it was not an auto-correct error.
“I was trying to get it done as fast as I could so that it was relevant by the time I posted it,” Focke told the paper. “I tried to type it, and obviously, I mistyped the word ‘Nuggets.’ And I did not reread it — which, as you know, that’s rule No. 1 of working in the media.”
“And unfortunately, I didn’t because I was trying to get it up as fast as possible. And I hit ‘send,'” he said.
The Hornets announced that Focke, who had been with the team for five years, was suspended and that they had launched an investigation into the incident.
Apparently that investigation is over. Now the team has fired Focke for the tweet.
“The Charlotte Hornets announced today that John Focke will not return as the team’s radio broadcaster due to a violation of the organization’s social media policy,” the team said Friday.
“Since this is a personnel matter, the organization will not comment any further. The Hornets thank John for all of his efforts during the 2019-20 NBA season.”
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