US sports reporter Kasey Funderburg has reportedly been sacked over alleged 2013 and 2014 tweets that included racial slurs.
The New York Post reports that the 26-year-old, who was employed by the University of Tennessee and Vol Network, has departed from her position at the uni and resigned from her role at Knox News.
The University of Tennesse did not provide an explanation for her departure, however, her bio page has been deleted from the Vol Network official website.
It comes after tweets that she made when she was 17 and 18 years old were unearthed.
Funderburg had initially taken issue with a tweet from a popular Tennessee parody account that goes by the name of G.West.
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They tweeted: “Tennessee will be announcing Dark Mode for the 7pm matchup this Saturday against Kentucky.
“All fans will be asked to wear black clothes and paint their face all black as well.”
The team were to wear black uniforms for their game against Kentucky.
Funderburg reportedly denounced the tweet with her own statement.
She said: “THIS IS A FAKE ACCOUNT and it’s disgusting that this person thinks putting out a joke like this is okay. Please don’t believe everything you read on Twitter.”
Later she posted: “A person who thinks it’s funny to put out that Tennessee is asking fans to wear blackface is disgusting. This is where I stand.”
According to Knox News, people then shared screenshots that allegedly showed racial slurs posted from a Twitter account that looked to have belonged to Funderburg.
Kasey released a statement on Thursday (November 3), saying: “The comments I tweeted as a high school student were unacceptable and ignorant. I sincerely apologise for using offensive language and to anyone I hurt or offended with those remarks.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. This language is not appropriate in any context and has not been part of my vocabulary since then.
“Moving forward, I will continue my work to be a better ally so that I may promote a more inclusive society where everyone is welcome.”
Funderburg was a student at the University of Tennessee before becoming a full-time employee in the athletics department.
She was an on-air personality for VFL Films and Vol Calls, a weekly call-in show for UT coaches.
A Change.org petition was started that reached up to 1,048 signatures before it was closed.
SPORTbible reached out to Kasey Funderburg for comment.
Topics: American Football, US Sports
Jayden Collins