Thom Brennaman to resign from role as voice of Cincinnati Reds

It has been roughly five weeks since a microphone picked up Thom Brennaman using a homophbic slur on-air during a Cincinnati Reds broadcast, one that saw him later step away before being suspended by the team.

Today, Brennaman announced that he will resign from his role, as Evan Millward of Cincinnati station WCPO relayed earlier on Twitter.

Brennaman included a short statement, as well.

I do not have much to add to this, in all honesty. The flippance with which Brennaman used the slur on-air paired with the length of time it took him to acknowledge he used it made the entire episode both offensive and embarrassing, and his initial reaction seemed to suggest he was much more reticent that he got caught than he was at using the word in the first place. I can only hope his mention of interactions with the LGBTQ community since that evening is evidence that he’s making a sincere effort to reach out to, and to learn from, that community and gain a greater understanding of just how offensive he was that night.

Frankly, it’s somewhat disconcerting that the decision for him to not be on Reds broadcasts anymore was still his, much as it’s disconcerting that it took five weeks for this decision to come about.

Anyway, it draws to an official conclusion a long era of Brennaman voices being paired with Cincinnati Reds baseball, as Thom’s father, Marty, retired after 46 years in the radio booth following the end of the 2019 regular season.