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Jeremy Lin Meets Guy Who Wrote Racist ESPN Headline
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 28, 2012
Modified Mar 28, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 28, 2012
Modified Mar 28, 2012
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When Linsanity was at fever pitch, an unfortunate headline appeared on ESPN's mobile site to describe the Knicks' February 17 loss to the Hornets: "Chink in the Armor." The ESPN.com employee behind the headline was fired. Now, Lin has met the writer, according to Newsday.
The writer, Anthony Federico, said it was an "honest mistake" and wrote a long apology that began, "I wrote the headline in reference to the tone of the column and not to Jeremy Lin’s race. It was a lapse in judgment and not a racist pun. It was an awful editorial omission and it cost me my job. I owe an apology to Jeremy Lin and all people offended. I am truly sorry. Actions speak louder than words. My words may have hurt people in that moment but my actions have always helped people. If those who vilify me would take a deeper look at my life they would see that I am the exact opposite of how some are portraying me." (Federico described his Christian faith; Lin is also a devout Christian.)
According to Newsday, "A Knicks spokesman said on Wednesday that Lin did not wish to publicly discuss the meeting," but apparently, "A member of Lin's family reached out to Federico via e-mail more than a month ago, according to Federico. After several attempts to get Lin and Federico to meet were scuttled because of the Knicks point guard's busy schedule, the meeting finally took place at a Manhattan restaurant and left Federico thankful for Lin's graciousness."
Federico told Newsday, "It went incredible. I'm just so excited we had a chance to meet. We talked for an hour. I'm just so thankful... The fact that he reached out to me. The fact that he took the time to meet with me in his insanely busy schedule... He's just a wonderful, humble person. He didn't have to do that, especially after everything had kind of died down for the most part. We talked more about matters of faith [and] reconciliation. We talked about our shared Christian values and what we're both trying do with this situation ... We didn't talk about the headline for more than three minutes."
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anthony federico
espn
forgiveness
headline
jeremy lin
knicks
racist
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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