Thom Brennaman returns to broadcasting with the CW, 4 years after being fired for on-air slur

Four years after being caught saying a homophobic slur on-air, former Cincinnati Reds announcer Thom Brennaman will be back in the booth.

After years without a job as a result of the incident, Brennaman has been hired by the CW to lead its college football coverage, according to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.

Brennaman, who worked for Fox Sports for more than 25 years and spent 15 years as the voice of the Reds, was fired in August 2020 for saying a homophobic slur on a hot mic. In the infamous incident, Brennaman was calling a game between the Reds and Kansas City Royals for Fox Sports Ohio on August 19, 2020 when he casually referred to Kansas City as "one of the f** capitals of the world," unaware that he was on-air.

As the clip went viral, Brennaman realized that his job was in danger. His subsequent on-air apology, famously interrupted by a Nick Castellanos home run, has persisted as a popular meme.

Brennaman was fired by the Reds after the incident. Brennaman is the son of longtime Cincinnati Reds radio broadcaster Marty Brennaman, who retired in 2019.

Thom Brennaman has spent the past four years out of the broadcast booth after being similarly shunned by Fox Sports, for whom Brennaman had started working in 1994, doing NFL and baseball coverage.

Now, Brennaman has been given another chance, and will lead The CW's football coverage, which primarily holds rights to the ACC and recently acquired the rights to the Pac-12 (or Pac-2).

"There are no words to describe how grateful I am that they’re rolling the dice," Brennaman told The Athletic. "They don’t have to do this."

Brennaman told The Athletic he has done work to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community, both locally in Cincinnati and nationally. As a result of his efforts, the CW is giving him a chance to redeem himself.

"It became clear that he has taken full responsibility for his actions," CW president Dennis Miller told The Athletic.

Per The Athletic, The CW approaches its broadcasting with a "Moneyball" perspective, meaning that Brennaman offered a lot to the network as an undervalued asset.

The Athletic's article also included words of support for Brennaman's hiring from legendary broadcaster Bob Costas and Cyd Zeigler, the founder of LGBTQ+-focused outlet Outsports. Both said they were happy to see Brennaman get a second chance.

"Neither Thom nor anyone else denies that he had a serious misstep,” Costas told The Athletic. “A misstep for which some consequence would have been appropriate. But the price he has paid is beyond disproportionate. Especially when you consider that he had a fine reputation prior to the incident, and took every proper step to make amends subsequent to it. His return to the booth is overdue and I am sure the audience will be happy to hear his voice again.”

Zeigler told The Athletic that he was "proud of The CW" for hiring Brennaman. "Somebody gave this guy a chance that he deserved," he said.

Brennaman's first game will be an Oregon State home game against Idaho State on Aug. 31, per The Athletic. He will predominately focus on ACC games throughout the season.