NHL broadcaster Don Cherry says he would have done one thing differently after firing
Sportsnet fired Cherry, 85, over what's been described as anti-immigrant comments.
Fired NHL broadcasting legend Don Cherry told Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Tuesday that he would have changed one thing about the mini rant about honoring Canada's troops that got him fired.
"If I had it to do over again, I would have said 'everybody.' ... If I had been smart and protected myself, I should have said 'everybody' should be wearing a poppy," Cherry said. "Fair enough, the whole thing, it's the two words that got it: 'you people.' As you know people are very sensitive about that."
Sportsnet fired Cherry, 85, on Monday over what's been described as anti-immigrant comments. He criticized "you people" in cities for not wearing poppies to honor military veterans ahead of the Remembrance Day holiday. Cherry hosted the "Coach's Corner" segment on Sportsnet's "Hockey Night in Canada," one of the highest-rated segments on Canadian television.
CANADIAN HOCKEY ANALYST DON CHERRY FIRED OVER ANTI-IMMIGRANT COMMENTS
"This Saturday will be the first time in 38 years that I've never been on a 'Hockey Night in Canada,'" Cherry told Fox News.
Hockey commentator Don Cherry does a television interview before the Tampa Bay Rays MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 13, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Sportsnet holds exclusive rights to broadcast NHL games in Canada. In a statement announcing Cherry’s dismissal, the network said his comments were "divisive" and "do not represent our values or what we stand for."
Cherry said he was not trying to be offensive.
"We're all immigrants and the whole deal," he said. "Nothing happened that night. Nobody said anything that night, they ran it that night and they ran it later and the whole deal. ... I heard it the next day."
He said a "silent majority" is with him.
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"The silent majority, as you know, are always silent. The police are with me, the forces are with me, everybody's with me and the firefighters, the whole deal," Cherry said. "It doesn't make any sense. I was brought in, and I was told that I was fired after 38 years. You know, I stand by what I said, and I still mean it."
"All I was saying is in Toronto, wear your poppy. These soldiers died for our way life ... I had a grand-uncle and an uncle who died," Cherry said.
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FOX Business' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.