Former Sportsnet analyst Gregg Zaun yesterday in a statement apologized for the "harm and distress" his actions caused his female co-workers before the network fired him last week, according to Morgan Campbell of the TORONTO STAR. The statement also "dodges blame for the circumstances leading to Zaun’s firing." It reads in part, “I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last few days and know that my ignorance of the harm caused by my language does not excuse it -- for which I accept responsibility." Zaun in the statement "professes not to have known his workplace behaviour was hurtful." At one point he "suggests he would have made adjustments if the offended parties had simply pointed out his misdeeds, and describes himself as 'blindsided and gutted by the allegations' that prompted Sportsnet to drop him." Zaun: "I regret my blindness to the impact of my actions that I would have corrected at the time rather than allowing the harm felt to continue to fester" (TORONTO STAR, 12/5).
NOT BUYING IT: In Toronto, Liz Braun writes Zaun is "careful in his choice of words in this apology." Every suggestion of wrongdoing is "laid out against something positive about Zaun." Part of the statement reads, "While I am well recognized for my unfiltered criticism of others within the sports world, which has made many critics and enemies -- in ignorance I allowed a similar attitude to influence all aspects of my lifestyle, causing distress for female colleagues.” Braun: "See that? Ignorance kept Zaun from seeing that the very thing that made him famous might be inappropriate in other settings." He uses “'ignorance' twice, all part of a pile-up of words that includes soul-searching, remorse, naively, regret, blindness, blindsided" (TORONTO SUN, 12/5).
