An Oklahoma jury has awarded a sports broadcaster $25 million in damages after it falsely reported that the broadcaster had used the N-word during a hot mic moment.
In March 2021, former friends and fellow broadcasters Scott Sapulpa and Matt Rowan We sat down to announce the girls basketball game between Norman High School and Midwest City High School. When the national anthem started playing before the game, Norman’s team took a knee, prompting a profanity-filled rant from Rowan.
“Are they kneeling? Fuck them. I hope Norman takes their kicks.” Rowan lashed out.
Then Sapulpa interjected and asked, “Are you serious?”
Rowan ignored Sapulpa’s question. “They’re shit. I hope they lose. Come on, Midwest City,” Rowan continued. “Are they going to kneel like that? That’s outrageous. Do they even salute the flag? Some of them aren’t. Fuck you.”
Unbeknownst to the pair, their microphones were left on and Rowan’s comments were broadcast to the livestream audience.
At 11 a.m. the next day, the state’s largest newspaper, The Oklahoman, reported the comments without identifying the speaker. A sports reporter then updated the article at 12:37 p.m. the same day to report that Sapulpa had made it. At 3:05 p.m., the outlet removed Sapulpa’s name in connection with the comment, and at 5:35 p.m. it announced that the statement was accurately attributed to Rowan.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Last week, in a civil trial on charges of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Sapulpa testified that she was immediately bombarded with hateful text messages that said:
- “Racist son of a bitch.”
- “Racist trash. Go kill yourself.”
- “You racist motherfucker, that’s what you hope for your kids,” and
- “Your parents had a terrible upbringing.”
Hulbert Public Schools, where Sapulpa worked as a teacher and previously coached football, immediately placed him on administrative leave, even though administrators knew he was not a speaker. Hulbert Superintendent Jolyn Choate said in a statement: “While it has been falsely reported that a member of my staff was the announcer who uttered the racist language, my staff member stood up for our students and spoke out against them. should have spoken out against the racist language and hate from the announcers.” and the intolerance it represents. ”
Bob Neron, an attorney who represented media conglomerate Gannett, which bought The Oklahoman in 2019, used similar arguments during the trial. ”[Sapulpa] “I cannot separate myself from the real fact that he was part of a broadcast team that used racist language,” Neron argued.
Sapulpa countered that she had confronted Rowan about the inappropriate language, but that the conversation was not recorded by a microphone. Sapulpa claimed that because of the misidentification incident, his alma mater, Hulbert High School, did not renew his contract and other school districts refused to hire him.
“There’s going to be some backlash,” Broken Arrow associate athletic director Alton Rask acknowledged in the stands. “Some people may know, but [Sapulpa] I know he didn’t say that, but on the other hand, some people may not know.
“That’s why I don’t recommend him.” [for hire]Personally,” Lusk added.
About six months after the broadcast, Sapulpa accepted a job as an after-school coordinator and girls softball coach at Pawhuska Public Schools. Pawhuska head football coach Matt Hennessy agreed with Rask that Sapulpa is unlikely to achieve any more prominent status in the district.
Sapulpa also claimed that the Oklahoman’s mistakes led to the bankruptcy of his private business, Pullman 360, and the destruction of many personal relationships, including those with former players and students.
“They wanted to be first, they wanted to be on the front page,” Sapulpa’s attorney, Michael Burkett, said in closing arguments. “Scott wasn’t a person to them, he was just a name.”
Neron spoke on Gannett’s behalf, claiming the Oklahoman made a “temporary error.” He also argued that imposing large fines on Gannett would ultimately hurt the company’s other small-town stores. “Mistakes happen,” Neron said. “Gannett is made up of over 11,000 of his people. Punishing Gannett means punishing every small-town newspaper editor.”
On Monday, a jury sided with Sapulpa, awarding him $5 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages.
“I’m really happy for Scott,” Burkett said. “I hope this clears his name.”
Gannett said he plans to appeal. “There was no evidence presented to the jury that The Oklahoman knew its reporting was false or acted with intent to harm the plaintiffs in this case,” spokeswoman Lark-Marie Anton said in a statement. ” he said.
Rowan also testified at trial and admitted that she was the one who made the statement. Rowan blamed the issue on “wrong choice of words” and anger over the Norman team’s decision to disrespect the national anthem. “It made me extremely uncomfortable,” Rowan said.
A widely shared statement attributed to Rowan suggested that his diabetes caused his blood sugar levels to spike and he may have been “disoriented” during that day’s game, but Rowan remained in the stands. He distanced himself from the statement above, claiming it was written by an unidentified lawyer. It’s for him.
Both men said they had not spoken since immediately after the incident.
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