YIKES

Canadian Hockey Pundit Don Cherry Fired Over Immigrant Rant

The hockey icon railed against those “that come here” to Canada for not wearing poppies in honor of fallen Canadian soldiers.

Canadian hockey pundit Don Cherry was fired by Canadian sports channel Sportsnet on Monday after he went on a rant about immigrants during a Saturday broadcast, The Toronto Star reports. Cherry, a former minor-league hockey player and ex-Boston Bruins coach, claimed during Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada program that he was seeing fewer people wearing poppies to honor fallen Canadian soldiers for Remembrance Day. He specifically singled out those he believes to be immigrants in Toronto and Mississauga. “You people—that come here, whatever it is—you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that,” Cherry, 85, said on the show. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada.”

Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said Monday the network decided it was the “right time for (Cherry) to immediately step down” following further discussions of the rant. “During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for,” Yabsley said. After his firing, Cheery told the Toronto Sun there was “nothing you could do” about his dismissal after four decades on the air. “How appropriate though that I get fired for Remembrance Day?” he told the newspaper.