TV Station Fires Employee over On-Air Swipe at Tom Brady
A producer at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh had a little fun at the expense of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — and it wound up getting him fired.
The producer, Michael Telek, put up a chyron — TV-speak for a digital caption — that referred to Brady as “Known Cheater.”
See for yourself:
@KDKA throwing the shade at Brady ? pic.twitter.com/ZPs7gLU8Lf
— Noah M. Vereb (@nvereb) January 28, 2019
Telek appeared Wednesday on CNN and explained why he did it.
“I thought, it was a sports story, Super Bowl week, just have something fun, light-hearted for all the Pittsburgh fans — a little wink and nudge,” he told CNN. “At first I didn’t know if I wanted to put ‘Gisele’s Husband’ or ‘Known Cheater,’ and I thought ‘Known Cheater’ would be funnier because of all the Deflategate stuff.
“And around here in Pittsburgh, people despise Tom Brady. They would burn his jersey if they really could. I thought it was a little joke.”
However, there were some people in Pittsburgh who didn’t think it was funny — namely, his bosses. Telek was fired for his stunt.
“While fans are entitled to have personal opinions, we have a journalistic responsibility to provide unbiased reporting,” KDKA said in a statement to Sports illustrated. “The graphic that appeared Monday violated our news standards. The individual who created the graphic no longer works for KDKA-TV.”
TV producer fired over writing graphic calling Tom Brady a “known cheater” says he was “just trying to have a little fun, and it cost me.” https://t.co/ftvzYxbhxq pic.twitter.com/7YkVPc3qKV
— New Day (@NewDay) January 31, 2019
Telek told CNN he thought his firing was a bit much but he understood why KDKA made the decision.
“I thought it was a little harsh … like, I’ve never been in trouble or anything, but I support their decision,” he said. “I love everyone I worked with at KDKA, it was a great time. They are some of the smartest people I know. They made me a better journalist in the six or seven months I was there.”
The Steelers have struggled mightily against New England during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. The Patriots have gone 8-3 against them in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs.
Brady was, of course, reprimanded by the league for his involvement in the Deflategate scandal, in which the Patriots were alleged to have improperly deflated the footballs before the AFC championship game versus the Indianapolis Colts in 2015.
An investigation concluded that it was “more probable than not” that Patriots personnel illegally messed with the balls and “more probable than not” that Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities, according to the Wells Report.
Brady was suspended for four games, and the Pats were fined $1 million and lost two draft picks.
Despite his cheeky chyron, Telek said he has nothing but respect for Brady.
“I’m a big Tom Brady fan, too. I think he’s the greatest football player, the greatest quarterback ever,” Telek said. “In the tease leading up to that package, I said, ‘Are the Rams ready for the GOAT?’ I have nothing but respect for Tom Brady, just wanted to have a little fun, and it cost me.”
Telek said he’s received overwhelming support in Pittsburgh and even Pats fans have told him the firing was too much.
He probably should’ve gone with “Gisele’s Husband.”
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