San Francisco Giants pitcher Derek Holland issued an apology Thursday, a day after he appeared on the television show Intentional Talk, which airs on both ESPN2 and MLB Network, and spoke in a mock Asian accent.
Here's the full statement Derek Holland made to reporters after today's game. pic.twitter.com/GY5pNyoT1m
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) August 23, 2018
Holland was accompanied on the show by Giants massage therapist Haro Ogawa, and the pair attempted a skit that cast Ogawa as Holland’s sidekick or “hype man,” with Holland speaking in a halting, heavily accented voice.
derek holland brought his “hype man” onto an intentional talk interview. the hype man spends the entire interview silent except when addressed.
holland then impersonates a strong asian accent to play for laughs. that’s the entire joke. that holland uses an asian accent. come on. pic.twitter.com/N3qhoYncro
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) August 22, 2018
Criticism mounted online, and the Giants later issued a statement to Deadspin:
“The Giants organization does not condone that type of behavior in any way. We spoke to Derek regarding his interview yesterday and he completely understands the severity of the situation and apologizes if it offended anyone.”
Holland added he had spoken to and apologized to Ogawa and another Asian employee of the team, who he said “understand we were just doing a bit, but it was too far.”
Holland concluded that “whatever I have to do to take care of the situation, I will do it.”
I think in his head, it was funny, but he’s a real cutup, and sometimes, jokes don’t resonate with others how you think they will. Holland will have to cut that character out of his act.
