Prominent Canadian ice hockey commentator Don Cherry has been fired for controversial comments on new immigrants and Remembrance Day poppies.
Cherry complained on-air this weekend that he rarely sees people he believes to be newcomers wearing the symbol.
His remarks prompted widespread condemnation from the hockey world.
On Monday, the Sportsnet network said that in the wake of the remarks “it is the right time for him to immediately step down”.
“During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for,” Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said in a statement.
Cherry is a former ice hockey player and coach who launched his career as a commentator for the game in the 1980s.
He has built his celebrity through his appearance on Coach’s Corner, a segment of Hockey Night in Canada – a television staple in the country since 1952.
What did Cherry say?
Speaking on the Hockey Night in Canada show on Saturday, Cherry singled out Toronto immigrants for not wearing poppies.
“At least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy,” he said.
“You people… you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that,” Cherry said.
The origins of the poppy as an emblem of remembrance lie with the opening lines of the World War One poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian officer John McCrae: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row.”
Poppies are predominantly worn in the UK and Commonwealth nations such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They are also used to a lesser extent in the US.
What was the reaction?
The words prompted a backlash online, including calls for the 85-year-old to resign from his lengthy television career.
On Sunday, the National Hockey League, television co-host Ron MacLean, Hockey Canada, and network Sportsnet issued statements censuring Cherry’s remarks.
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