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Canadian Sportscaster Don Cherry Fired Over Anti-Immigrant Comments

Don Cherry
Don Cherry (TheAHL [CC BY 2.0], )
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TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) –Veteran sportscaster Don Cherry, one of Canada’s best-known commentators and the long-running host of the “Coach’s Corner” segment on “Hockey Night In Canada” has been fired after a racially charged diatribe.

On Monday afternoon, Sportsnet, which produces the “Coach’s Corner” segment announced on Monday that “it has been decided it is the right time for [Cherry] to immediately step down.”

Cherry made the comments during a broadcast on Friday afternoon when he expressed concern that no one in his of Mississauga, Ont., and in Toronto follows the tradition of wearing poppies on Remembrance Day.

Cherry went on to single out immigrants, which he referred to as “you people” for not wearing the flower ornament.

“Now you go to the small cities, and you know, the rows and rows … you people love … they come here, whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price,” Cherry said during the segment.

Cherry’s comments drew immediate criticism and by Saturday morning, Sportsnet was issuing an apology, with Ron MacLean, his “Coach’s Corner” co-host also apologizing on behalf of Cherry on his own show “Hometown Hockey.”

Cherry, a former NHL player, and coach transitioned to commentary in 1980 when he appeared as a studio analyst alongside David Hodge during the playoffs. The following year, he was hired full-time as a color commentator and quickly became popular for his loud, outspoken nature.

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