A's distance themselves from Jose Canseco after sexual misconduct tweet
We already have plenty of evidence that José Canseco’s Twitter feed is a toxic waste pile. He’s posted dumb takes about science and once claimed he shot off a finger. But he may have topped all that Tuesday after posting an incoherent, yet incredibly stupid tweet about sexual harassment.
If you have no interest in Canseco’s take on this subject given his previous views, go ahead and leave now. Enjoy your day. Life’s too short.
If you decided to stay, here you go.
These women complaining against sexual misconduct are just racist against ugly men
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) December 12, 2017
What?
No, really. What?
We’re not trying to be funny here. Sexual assault and harassment are serious issues. Canseco’s tweet, as composed, doesn’t make sense. Don’t try to think about the words he mad-libbed together to make that sentence. It’s nonsense.
If we’re actually trying to parse what he has to say here, it sounds like he’s taking the stance that women who accuse men of sexual assault are doing so because they hate men? Honestly, we aren’t sure what he’s trying to say. The tweet comes off as either making light of sexual assault victims, saying the women who allege assault are lying or jealous or some other horrible thing. Pretty much any interpretation you can come up with is bad.
Canseco tried to clarify his comments, telling Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle he was joking.
Canseco told The Chronicle via text, “If people can’t take a joke, that’s ridiculous. What I’m saying really has no meaning. Those tweets don’t even make any sense, they’re a bunch of riddles.”
The Oakland Athletics were not happy with Canseco’s thoughts, sending out a tweet making it clear Canseco does not work for them, and that they do not share his views.
A statement from the Oakland A's. pic.twitter.com/TREZpby3nU
— Oakland Athletics ⚾️ (@Athletics) December 12, 2017
Canseco was hired by NBC Sports as a pre and post game analyst for A’s games in 2017. The network also responded to Canseco’s tweet, saying his contract expired after the season and that he was no longer an employee there.
Statement from NBC Sports California: pic.twitter.com/WPsM0xnrPT
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) December 13, 2017
He was charged with domestic violence twice during his playing career. Once in 1992, when he spent part of the season with the A’s. And again in 1998 as a free-agent.
If Canseco’s tweet was meant to be a joke, well, it wasn’t particularly funny. Not now, and not before revelations about Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein led other women to come forward with their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
That movement started with Weinstein, but many others have been accused since then. Chef Mario Batali and a number of former NFL stars who worked at NFL Network have become the latest men to be accused of sexual harassment and assault.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
