Cam Newton has apologized for making a sexist comment toward a female reporter during a press conference earlier this week.
As previously reported, the Carolina Panthers quarterback, 28, chuckled when Charlotte Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue asked him about the route-running of his teammate Devin Funchess.
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes. Like, it’s funny,” he said at the time. Since then, he’s received backlash and has lost an endorsement with Dannon Oikos Yogurt.
“After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women. And to be honest, that was not my intention. If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you,” Newton said in a video, which he posted to Twitter on Thursday night.
— Cameron Newton (@CameronNewton) October 6, 2017
The football player went on to note that he has two daughters. “At their age, I try to instill in them that they can do and be anything that they want to be. “The fact that during this process I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans, I realized that the joke is really on me. And I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this. To the young people who see this, I hope that you learn something from this as well. Don’t be like me; be better than me,” he continued. “To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms — super moms — to the daughters, the sisters and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope that you can find the kindness of your heart to forgive me. Thank you.”
Rodrigue, meanwhile, released a statement to ESPN following the incident on Wednesday. “This afternoon, I did my job as an NFL beat writer and asked Cam Newton a question about one of his receivers. I was dismayed by his response, which not only belittled me but countless other women before me and beside me who work in similar jobs,” she said. “I sought Mr. Newton out as he left the locker room a few minutes later. He did not apologize for his comments.”
https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/cam-newton-criticized-for-sexist-comment-to-female-reporter-w507239
