Sports

Ex-ESPN Employee Releases Passionate Statement Explaining ‘Chink in the Armor’ Headline ‘Lapse in Judgement’

After explaining to The New York Daily News that the racially offensive headline about Jeremy Lin published on ESPN’s mobile site was an “honest mistake,” now former ESPN employee Anthony Federico has released a more detailed statement explaining that the offense was ”a lapse in judgment and not a racist pun.”

Here‘s Federico’s full statement:

“I wrote the headline in reference to the tone of the column and not to Jeremy Lin’s race. It was a lapse in judgment and not a racist pun. It was an awful editorial omission and it cost me my job.

I owe an apology to Jeremy Lin and all people offended. I am truly sorry.

Actions speak louder than words. My words may have hurt people in that moment but my actions have always helped people. If those who vilify me would take a deeper look at my life they would see that I am the exact opposite of how some are portraying me.

They would see that on the day of the incident I got a call from a friend – who happens to be homeless – and rushed to his aid. He was collapsed on the side of the road due to exposure and hunger. They would see how I picked him up and got him a hotel room and fed him. They would see I used my vacation time last year to volunteer in the orphanages of Haiti. They would see how I ‘adopted’ an elderly Alzheimer’s patient and visited him every week for a year. They would see that every winter I organize a coat drive for those less fortunate in New Haven. They would see how I raised $10,000 for a friend in need when his kids were born four months premature. They would see how I have worked in soup kitchens and convalescent homes since I was a kid. They would see my actions speak louder than my words. They would see that these acts were not done for my glory, but for God’s. They would see that each day I live and will continue to live a life of joy and service.

It never has been or will be my intention to hurt anyone.

I wrote thousands and thousands and thousands of headlines in my five years at ESPN. There never was a problem with any of them and I was consistently praised as an employee – both personally and professionally. Two weeks prior to the incident I had my first column published on espnW.com. My career was taking off. Why would I throw that all away with a racist pun? This was an honest mistake.

It is also crucial that people know that the writer of the column had nothing to do with the headline. I wrote it and now I take responsibility for it.

I am actually a Knicks fan and an ardent supporter of Jeremy Lin. Not surprisingly, he has handled the entire situation with grace and class.

Now I have to find a new job and move on with my life.

My solace in this is that ‘all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.’ I praise God equally in the good times and the bad times.

-Anthony Federico
anthonyfederico9@gmail.com“

Federico lost his job after publishing the headline “Chink in the Armor,” on ESPN’s mobile website at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Federico’s last headline of his shift, in regards to the Jeremy Lin-led New York Knicks loss to the New Orleans Hornets. The headline was removed by 3:05 a.m.

(H/T: Business Insider)

Comments (57)

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  • paintbrushbright
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 4:09pm

    This political correct crap is a stain on the freedom of speech and it goes to show you that this Christian man is being persecuted for using a nickname that was not made in a racist tone but as a heroic description. I would say that this man is being persecuted for being an honest Christian with a racist excuse from his liberal ESPN employers.

    Report Post » paintbrushbright  
  • JRCancio
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 3:10pm

    If anyone deserves and apology it is Fredrico.

    Report Post »  
  • JRCancio
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 3:09pm

    What saddens me in this event; here is true relevance to learning the English language by foreigners and immigrants to this nation. When seeing the headline, the story, I knew precisely what Fredrico was referring in old English history. The people that should be fired are the people who through ignorance of the English language did not understand the usage of the passage/title. They should be held suspect in what employment capacity they perform as their ignorance jeapordizes effective employment. This also denotes precisely who are the individuals who are the true racist and as this is the only way they deal with the world. They should be terminated, as in their blindness, all this could have been avoided if they had only taken time to look up the meaning in an English dictionary before they reacted. Give this man back his job.

    Truth also be told, why doesn‘t the reportage of this article make comment what ’racist’ terms are used by the Chinese for Americans, i.e., white people…and what little I know, far worst than you would imagine.

    Report Post »  
  • CinemaNoir
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:39pm

    Was the headline writer also the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor???

    Report Post »  
  • Impact46
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:26pm

    I am SO SICK of all the sensitivity over race and political correctness. No one can take a joke anymore and you have to worry about every little thing you say. It seems to get worse with time too. I’m also sick of the double standard, white people can’t say anything except the hyphenated version of someone of another race, and only in total respect and reverence of them, but they can call us crackers and whities and whatever else and no one bats an eye. I’m fed up with this stuff.

    Report Post »  
  • LaBelle
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:08pm

    The PC crowd is turning this nation into a bunch of whiny arse pansies.

    Report Post » LaBelle  
  • awkingsley
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:02pm

    We obviously need to organize Truth Telling Rallies around racism and other politically incorrect ideas. What we are currently doing isn’t working. No one seems to be concerned about how Anthony Frederico’s life is destroyed by being labeled racist, or how all of the other people who have suffered the same had their lives impaired. Claims of racism and hate speech criticism are insane police state tactics, and destruction of people over these things must be stopped. We cannot have a clean free society if it must be one in which people cannot tell the truth or criticize anyone else behavior, including that of minorities. While name calling and venting may not be pleasant, it is better to have that state of affairs than all of the senseless slaughter of reputations and lives, due to overblown loss of dignity over false claims of racism. The major factor in this issue is that racist claims are not for the purpose of protecting minorities, but to subjugate Whites and to further the police state agenda. In the end, Socialist/Communist Elitists do not give a tiddle about minorities or anything else other than their own fortunes and welfare. After all, many of these people are nothing but Liberal immoral criminals.who find it expedient to brand others in furtherance of their sick Globalist.Corporatist agenda to subjugate and rule with impunity.

    Report Post »  
  • UDOUDI
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:39pm

    We have reached one giant pinnacle of politically correct stupidity.

    Report Post » UDOUDI  
    • 1minuteman
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:00pm

      yes your right and espn has a habit of firing people for a politically incorrect statement. they fired rush limbaugh for being what they hired him for controversial and i was watching the day he say what he did and it was not a racial remark at all. this gut who just got fired sounds like a good man and espn knows this but still fired him because that is the easy way to deal with something. pathetic!

      Report Post » 1minuteman  
    • Hollywood
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:01pm

      The term used was a Racist term,that has nothing to do with political correctness. That being said, I certainly don’t believe Frederico,is himself a racist,based on one, thoughtless comment. The ERR is human,to forgive Divine. It is up to Mr. Lin to forgive him, not any of us though. I believe Mr.Lin, will be Gracious enough to!

      Report Post » Hollywood  
  • rockthebenz
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:27pm

    Are you kidding me? This country has gotten so politcally correct it is destroying us. The phrase “***** in the armor” has been around since before most of you have been born. These idiots that get upset over something they make out of nothing should be run down the road rather than a
    good writer at espn. I hope to God we get this administration out of office so we can get back to some
    normalcy in this country. I am not for a communist lite country. Let’s get God back in our country, schools and political gatherings. We are losing all moral character that makes this country great!

    Report Post »  
    • satostud
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:58pm

      This guy has absolutley nothing to appologize for. He said nothing wrong.
      I bet he has no problem getting a job somwhere where the leadership is not so F..ing stupid.

      Report Post » satostud  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 5:21pm

      Notice even Beck’s site censors the word “ch!nk” when you;re saying “***** in the armor,” after Beck HIMSELF went on an epic rant about how stupid and rediculous this is.

      The hypocrisy abounds.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
  • Sara72
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 10:37am

    GBTV should hire Fredrico to interview athletes that make a difference!

    Report Post » Sara72  
    • JayCee
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:04pm

      Agree.
      He would probably be capable of covering more than just sports related issues though.
      I doubt he will be unemployed for long.

      The boobs at ESPN who are firing or suspending without pay good people who don’t deserve it need to be identified and held up to ridicule.
      Every ESPN employee better have their resume up to date and be on the lookout for other employment because it is clear that ESPN management are ignorant pinheads that fire without just cause.

      Report Post »  
  • conservredneck
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 10:13am

    All of you that take offense to this…grab a tissue. This is so puerile. Common sense has left the building.

    Report Post » conservredneck  
  • davemyers
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 9:54am

    White people… have had centuries here in america to say whatever and treat however they wanted those others who they have been taught were ‘inferior’ … it has only been very recently that there has been an attempt to be PC(nice) because of the realization by some groups that this could be exploited. The ‘*****’ comment was no accident.

    Report Post »  
    • LaBelle
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:04pm

      How about this one Dave…You’re full of crapola and you know it.

      Report Post » LaBelle  
    • bolognabreath
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:08pm

      Dave, would it be PC to call you a @#$%^&*@ you @#$%^&*?

      Report Post »  
    • drlax15m
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:26pm

      Tell that to the Irish, Polish, and a host of other “white” immigrants.

      Report Post »  
  • Epic Fail
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 9:42am

    That’s funny. You can’t say ***** in the Armor here on the Blaze. Even though it is used in the headline!!!! Too funny….

    Report Post » Epic Fail  
    • lillymckim
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 11:50am

      thats because it’s a slur

      Report Post » lillymckim  
    • Gary1206
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:14pm

      Lilly,
      Then isn’t it also a slur in the headline?

      Report Post »  
    • Epic Fail
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 3:30pm

      Good one Gary…. That was the point and it apparently went right over Lillys head… :)

      Report Post » Epic Fail  
  • uisignorant
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 9:36am

    If you believe and look at everything as racist, then it is. If you look at it as an expression then it is not and I did not see armor on Lin.

    Report Post »  
  • Gimme Shelter
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 8:42am

    I’ll take Lin alot more serious if he ever comes out and slams ESPN for behaving so immature, unprofessional, and gutless.

    Report Post »  
  • FedUpinIndiana
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 8:39am

    I must agree with some of the comments here. “***** in the armor” is a common phrase that has been used for years, and NOT to refer to anything dealing with race. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary lists as the first entry under “*****” “a small, cleft, slit or fissure”. The very last entry (of 5 for the word) indicates “Chinese, usu. taken to be offensive”. I believe this incident is once again political correctness taken to an absolute absurd extreme. ESPN caves to pressure (if there even was any) and fires an exemplary employee for this. Did ESPN ask Jeremy Lin what he thought about the issue? I would bet that he would want the employee reinstated and that he might say, like most level-headed people “much ado about nothing”. ESPN, now you have a chance to REALLY do the right thing and give Anthony Federico his job back! Now THAT would take courage. It saddens me to see how our society has devolved like this.

    Report Post »  
  • JesusFreak95
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 7:35am

    Ahhh, give me a break. It is a common expression, has nothing to do with Chinese, and it’s a silly pun. For Pete’s sake America, GROW A PAIR!

    Report Post » JesusFreak95  
    • lillymckim
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 7:56am

      I call BS on ESPN’s Tony Federico for a blatant bigoted use of this slur against Asians… he knew exactly what he was saying… he just hoped he could get away with it.

      ESPN says and approves this crap daily look at what they allowed a convicted rapist a felon like Mike Tyson to say about Sarah Palin and he is a frequent radio guest of ESPN/Disney

      BS Tony Federico and ESPN… just unadulterated BS

      Report Post » lillymckim  
    • JesusFreak95
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:51pm

      I call BS on your BS. ;-)

      Report Post » JesusFreak95  
    • vieteravet
      Posted on February 26, 2012 at 1:41am

      Lillie, the worst word in the English lanuage is the ‘C’ word and right now you’re talking like one!

      Report Post »  
  • justasurvivor
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 7:28am

    I couldn’t disagree more with the statement that it was a “lapse in judgment.” I believe Mr. Federico is so much NOT a racist that it would never even cross his mind that “*****” used in that line would be linked to the slur.
    In my entire life (58 years), I’ve NEVER heard even one person in real life use this word to mean a Chinese person. In fact, I’ve never heard it used in any way except to that one phrase. And I especially think younger people don’t think of the word as anything to do with a race.

    Report Post »  
  • kick
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 6:13am

    So now we have the “C” word along with the “N” word. ***** in the armour has been around for over a thousand years.

    Report Post »  
  • Brainmuffin
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 5:11am

    The lapse in judgement was ESPN firing the writer. He has no need to apologize.

    Report Post »  
  • john koenig
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:17am

    ESPN,,,The MSNBC of sports. **** and minority PC loving ********.

    Report Post » john koenig  
  • kc_chiefsfan
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 12:51am

    This guy seems like a genuinely good guy who got screwed by an overly sensitive company trying to protect itself. I think this entire story has been blown way out of proportion and have seen nothing whatsoever that says how Jeremy Lin felt about it! I don’t like the NBA and hope that Lin can change the image that his chosen profession has, but think he should have stepped up and tried to eliminate the controversy. This phrase was not meant in any way, shape or form to insult Lin or anybody else of Asian-American descent used in this context.

    What happened to freedom of speech and common sense in us as Americans? I hope this wakes more people up to the dangers of political correctness and helps us to turn this ship around soon!

    Report Post » kc_chiefsfan  
  • KINGRUDDY
    Posted on February 23, 2012 at 12:42am

    Sad he is apoligizing for stating a long, long saying that applied….the Knicks have many ****** in their armor. Dah. what a joke this whole story has been.
    truth hurts!
    Wake up America!

    Report Post » KINGRUDDY  
  • darkloch
    Posted on February 22, 2012 at 11:58pm

    i have said that statement before but the way it was always said was “HE HAS A KINK IN HIS ARMOR” “KINK” is the way i have always heard it said not the other way around.

    Report Post »  
    • 00gabooga
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 5:43am

      http://www.thefreedictionary.com/*****

      Report Post » 00gabooga  
    • Gary1206
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 1:17pm

      Hope that doesn’t offend the kinks out there.

      Report Post »  
    • Southerner01
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:30pm

      Kink in his armor doesn’t even make sense. ***** means a small break or weak spot, which would allow you to penetrate the armor and thus defeat the opponent.

      The only armor I could even imagine you could get a “kink” in would be chainmail and then it would just cause a lump, not a weak spot.

      You are wrong and demonstrate a very weak understanding of the English language.

      Report Post »  
  • eaglescout1998
    Posted on February 22, 2012 at 11:35pm

    I only have a passing familiarity with this story. From what I can tell, someone’s panties got into a wad because someone used the word “*****.” Even though that word is a well-known racial slur, it has other legitimate meanings as well. I think the question we should be asking is: Was Lin actually offended? Or, as is more likely the case, did some overly sensitive person just assume that some folks would be?

    Report Post » eaglescout1998  
    • Doug - AF6YC
      Posted on February 23, 2012 at 2:45pm

      This whole brouhaha resulted strictly from the ignorance of those who got their knickers in a twist about the word “*****.” It appears that the editors of The Blaze fit into that category if they are replacing the word used multiple times in the article with asterisks. Don’t be ridiculous, Scott.
      Oogabooga attempted to link to the definitions of “*****,” but the word was changed to asterisks making the link useless.

      With that in mind, go to http://dictionary.reference.com and type “*****” in the search box. You will find that “*****,” in the intended sense, has been around since the 1400s (1350–1400; Middle English; perhaps chine + -k suffix (see -ock)) and had absolutely nothing to do with Chinese until around 1900 (1900–05; earlier Chinkie apparently alteration of China, Chinese by association with ***** (from the stereotypical Western image of Chinese as narrow-eyed); see -ie).

      This looks like a good topic for discussion on Glenn’s show(s) (radio and/or GBTV), and/or a “word of the day” for Bill O’Reilly.

      Report Post » Doug - AF6YC  
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