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Ariana Baio
Mar 25, 2022
Kamila Valieva falls and misses medals in figure skating routine
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British broadcasters Simon Reed and Nicky Slater have been suspended from figure skating announcing by the International Skating Union (ISU) for using offensive and disparaging language when describing Canadian figure skater, Meagan Duhamel.
On Thursday, Reed and Slater were having what they thought was a private conversation when the two began discussing tweets having to do with Duhamel ultimately leading Reed to make an offensive comment.
"We'll see if she liked it, if she tweets," Slater said in reference to a tweet Duhamel made criticizing the pair's commentating.
"I don't worry about her," Reed replied.
"We didn't mention her by name, we didn't mention her as one of the coaches," Slater returned.
Duhamel is a three-time Olympic medalist figure skater and recently took on the role of coach.
"The b**** from Canada," Reed said. Both men laughed, unaware their conversation had been recorded and broadcasted.
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Following the hot mic incident, the ISU tweeted condemning the men's language, announced the suspension of Reed and Slater, and issued an apology to Duhamel.
"The ISU strongly condemns any statements of a discriminatory or prejudicial nature," they tweeted on Thursday. "There is no place for harassing and abusive language or remarks and behavior in sport and our society. The ISU took instant action with its service provider to suspend both commentators with immediate effect and neither will cover any future Figure Skating events for the ISU."
Additionally, the ISU said an internal investigation would be underway.
The misogynistic remarks prompted outrage on Twitter from the figure skating community.
I\u2019d like you to apologize for calling Meghan \u201cthat bitch from Canada.\u201d Thanks.— Angel | \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \u096a\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b (@Angel | \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \u096a\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b) 1648071856
100% really most definitely want a shirt that says \u201cthat b!tch from Canada\u201d— Kaitlyn Weaver (@Kaitlyn Weaver) 1648117020
Just saying I would buy \u201cthat bitch from Canada\u201d merch— Adam Rippon (@Adam Rippon) 1648097494
In response, Duhamel tweeted, "I have received personal apologies from Simon Reed and the ISU president and I don’t think a public apology is necessary at this point. I appreciate and respect their apologies."
Canadian announcer Ted Barton will commentate during the rest of the competition.
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