By Amrita Das
Copyright sportskeeda
Gerald Bourguet, a Phoenix Suns lead writer at PHNX Sports, was fired after penning some controversial remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death on X. Kirk, 31, died on Wednesday, September 10, after being shot while he was speaking at an event at the Utah Valley University campus.While many condemned the killing despite having ideological differences with Kirk, a conservative political activist and a Trump ally, some had a different take. Taking to X on September 11, Gerald wrote:””Political differences” are not the same thing as spewing hateful rhetoric on a daily basis, and refusing to mourn a life devoted to that cause is not the same thing as celebrating gun violence. Just so we’re 100% clear on that.”Kirk, who was father to a daughter and a son, was mourned by many upon his untimely death, which left his family grieving. Addressing their concerns about his young kids, who lost their father on Wednesday, Gerald Bourguet wrote:””He was a father” Half of y’all didn’t give a DAMN about doing anything to stop gun violence when the victims of mass shootings were LITERAL children. And those kids weren’t bigots spreading genocidal propaganda, or a mindset he directly fed into with this Holy Grail of IroniesGerald shared the screenshot of a 2023 Newsweek article as a reference, which reported Charlie Kirk’s past remarks about gun deaths. The NBA reporter continued:”If you’re saddened by today’s “political violence,” horrified by the video, or repulsed by my response, ask yourself why your reaction was different when it came to school shootings, mass deportations or the HUNDREDS of videos of horrific murders in Gaza (which Kirk cheered on)”Gerald Bourguet concluded his thoughts:”Truly don’t care if you think it’s insensitive or poor timing to decline to respect an evil man who died. Too many of you are more concerned with being polite and *appearing* to be good people rather than showing some damn backbone and standing on principal to condemn hate”Gerald Bourguet terminated from PHNX Sports following posts about Charlie Kirk’s deathGerald Bourguet’s X posts left netizens divided. While some people demanded PHNX Sports fire him from their network, others resonated with him and praised him for voicing his thoughts. However, PHNX Sports announced Gerald’s fate via an X post on Thursday:”The opinions expressed by our employees do not represent the views of PHNX or ALLCITY Network. We take matters involving violence very seriously and are committed to ensuring that ALLCITY remains a safe place for our employees and community alike.”PHNX Sports fires Gerald Bourguet over Charlie Kirk remarks. (Image via X/@PHNX_Sports)The statement added:”We have addressed this matter with the individual and made the decision to part ways.”According to LinkedIn, Gerald Bourguet joined PHNX Sports in September 2021.Many approved of PHNX Sports’ decision to fire Gerald over his remarks about Charlie Kirk. Several others, on the other hand, called out the network for letting go of Gerald and called the decision “disappointing”, “spineless”, and “terrible”.Following Gerald Bourguet’s termination from PHNX Sports, a GoFundMe was created to support his family.
