The Portland Trail Blazers fired play-by-play announcer Braiden Bell on Thursday — the same day he was hired — over old racist and misogynistic tweets.
“The Trail Blazers fired their new television play-by-play broadcaster, Braiden Bell, hours after they announced the hire, after posts on X resurfaced from Bell’s past that featured misogynistic and racist comments,” The New York Post’s Christian Arnold wrote on October 1. “The objectionable social media posts were from 2012 and 2013, when Bell was roughly 15 years old, and contained comments about ‘Asian people’ and used the terms ‘slut’ and ‘wh—s’ to refer to women in the posts. Bell is now 29 years old.”
The Blazers announced Bell’s firing in a prepared statement.
“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the Blazers said in a statement. “Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster.”
Bell’s social media accounts were set to private by Friday morning.
Braiden Bell’s Hiring Made News Thursday Morning
The Oregonian ran an article Thursday morning about Bell’s hiring — a story that had to be updated later that night with a line at the top telling readers he’d already lost his job.
“Bell, who had been calling games for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and the G League’s Valley Suns, will replace veteran Kevin Calabro, who left the organization over the summer,” The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman wrote. “The 29-year-old will work alongside color commentator Lamar Hurd and courtside reporter Brooke Olzendam in a new-look broadcast that will continue to air on the Rip City Television Network.”
Portland TV Station Broke Story on Firing, Tweets
KGW-TV — Portland’s NBC affiliate — broke the story on Bell’s firing and tweets.
From KGW: “The tweets were from 2012 and 2013 and were first spotted by KGW reporter Devon Haskins. KGW was in the process of reporting a story on the tweets Thursday afternoon and reached out to the Blazers for comment. The team replied several hours later saying they had fired Bell.”
“Portland Trail Blazers have fired Braiden Bell hours after naming him the new TV play-by-play broadcaster after racist tweets were discovered in his past as a teen,” NBA on Prime’s Chris Haynes wrote on his official X account.
“The Blazers have released a statement saying that they have fired freshly hired TV pxp announcer Braiden Bell after racist and misogynistic tweets from his past have resurfaced,” Blazers reporter Brenna Greene wrote on her official X account.
Trail Blazers Fire Play-By-Play Announcer Over Racist Tweets