Portland Trail Blazers Fire New Announcer Hours After Hiring Over Old Tweets
Portland Trail Blazers fired newly appointed play-by-play announcer Brayden Bell hours after hiring him due to offensive teenage social media posts.
The tenure of Tom Dundon as the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers continues to generate headlines, this time surrounding one of the club's biggest embarrassments in recent years. The team announced the appointment of Brayden Bell as its new play-by-play announcer, only to reverse the decision hours later and fire him following the exposure of his old social media posts.
The Appointment and Quick Dismissal
Bell, 29, formerly the voice of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a college sports broadcaster, was announced on Thursday morning as the replacement for Kevin Calabro, who left the franchise in the summer after nine years. However, within hours, offensive tweets posted by Bell when he was a teenager surfaced online, prompting the Blazers to sever ties.
Among the uncovered posts were statements described by the team as racist, sexist, and offensive. In a December 2012 tweet, Bell wrote: "I am not racist at all... but I won't lie... Asian people annoy me!". Other posts from that period included vulgar and derogatory remarks.
"The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or offensive commentary. The posts by the recently announced play-by-play announcer clearly violate team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations," the team said in a statement.
Ownership Challenges in Portland
The franchise apologized to its fans, emphasizing that the broadcasting role holds a long tradition of excellence in both transmission and character. Reports noted the tweets were authored in 2012 and 2013 during Bell's high school years, but remained accessible on his active X account.
This controversy compounds a difficult start to Dundon's era as team owner. Since acquiring the Blazers, the organization has implemented sweeping cost-cutting measures, including the layoff of roughly 70 employees, adding to mounting scrutiny.
