Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton apologized last night for his response to a female reporter earlier in the week, which Cam described as "degrading and disrespectful to women."
Charlotte Observer reporter, Jourdan Rodrigue, had asked Cam during a press conference about wide receiver Devin Funchess' routes. Cam responded to the question by saying, “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes.” He received a ton of backlash for his response to Rodrigue and lost at least one of his sponsorships as a result. According to a report by ESPN's Darren Rovell, Dannon, maker of the Oikos yogurt brand, has informed Cam that they'll no longer be working with him.
Last night, Cam shared a video apology, which you can check out below.
"After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women," he said. "And to be honest, that was not my intention. If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you."
"I'm a man who tries to be a positive role model to my community and tries to use my platform to inspire others. I take ownership to everything that comes with that. What I did was extremely unacceptable."
Jourdan Rodrigue also had some explaining to do last night as well, as some of her old tweets were dug up, including one that reads, "My dad is being super racist as we pass through Navajo land," and another, "He's the best. Racist jokes the whole drive home."
Rodrigue released the following statement regarding the regrettable tweets. Via Charlotte Observer,
“I apologize for the offensive tweets from my Twitter account 4/5 years ago,” Rodrigue said in a Twitter statement. “There is no excuse for these tweets and the sentiment behind them. I am deeply sorry and apologize.”
Charlotte Observer editor, Sherry Chisenhall also released a statement regarding Rodrigue's tweets.
Per ESPN,
"The Twitter posts are regrettable and we wish they hadn't happened," Observer editor Sherry Chisenhall said. "We don't condone the posts or the messages they convey. We believe Jourdan is deeply sincere in her apology and regret about those tweets."
