ESPN journalist, Mark Ogden and presenter, Alexis Nunes have both taken to social media to issue a public apology after being seen mocking Harry Kane for the way he talks.
Kane converted from the penalty spot against Brighton on Sunday which took his Premier League goal tally to 149, the joint tenth highest in history, along with Les Ferdinand.
While discussing the Tottenham striker’s achievement, Ogden and Nunes decided instead to mock the way in which he speaks and labelled the 27-year-old ‘boring’.
The clip doing the rounds on social media seemed to be a deleted part of the discussion on ESPN FC, where both Ogden and Nunes were both seen joking about the England captain’s interviews.
After being on the receiving end of some backlash on social media, both Nunes and Ogden have apologised for what they said, with the latter revealing that they had even contacted Tottenham to apologise to Kane personally.
Here’s what they tweeted out after the incident:
@HKane @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/57fmr4S74F
— Alexis Nunes (@alexisenunes) November 2, 2020
An inappropriate conversation with our producer was accidentally posted publicly for a short time before being taken down. Our comments were clearly disrespectful and regrettable. We have the utmost respect for @HKane, a consummate professional and role model to youngsters. (1/2)
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) November 2, 2020
We have contacted Tottenham Hotspur to sincerely apologise directly to @SpursOfficial and to Harry, in addition to the club’s supporters and to the ESPN FC audience. (2/2)
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) November 2, 2020
Spurs Web Opinion
It always angers me to see opposition fan make fun of Kane’s speech impediment and ESPN have let themselves down by sinking to the level of trolls. I can certainly understand why Spurs fans are not pleased with what they saw. However, the kind of online witch-hunt that has been going on against Nunes and Ogden, is uncalled for. I am sure we will find a lot more things to be offended by if the off-camera banter from pundits and presenters was leaked regularly.