"I let celebrity get in my head” - Ex-MLBer Gregg Zaun apologizes for 'shocking' sexual harrassment allegations that 'ruined' his career

Former MLB catcher Gregg Zaun's broadcasting career ended abruptly in 2017 after sexual harassment allegations from female employees at SportsNet. The former Toronto Blue Jays catcher opened up about the controversy this week.

A World Series winner in 1997 with the Miami Marlins, Zaun called time on his 16-season-long MLB career in 2010. In March 2011, Zaun became a full-time broadcaster by signing a two-year deal with Rogers Sportsnet.

However, his career came under scrutiny in the wake of sexual harassment allegations from SportsNet employees, and he was eventually fired in 2017. On Monday's episode of the "Toronto Legends" podcast, Zaun admitted to "flirting" with his fellow employees and reflected on its impact on his post-playing career.

“I definitely made mistakes. I let celebrity get in my head,” Zaun said. “I was never as famous in Canada as a player as I was as a broadcaster. I mean, I couldn’t walk down the street.”

While the former World Series winner admitted his mistake, he also acknowledged the ramifications on his mental health and broadcasting career.

““My life was turned upside down, ruined. My professional career, ruined,” he said. "I can’t get a job in television. There’s not a lot of forgiveness for people that look like me in this world. It’s absolutely my fault. There are certain topics of conversation that don’t belong in the workplace.

"And it’s funny, the biggest mistake that I’ve made is thinking that because a lot of the conversations and exchanges were initiated by females in the workplace that they were somehow OK. That I was somehow justified in participating in those conversations. The tomfoolery, the hijinx. These allegations, they were shocking to me.”

Former Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun was unaware of the impact of his workplace behaviour

Gregg Zaun shared that he didn't think he was crossing the line at the time, thinking of his interactions as workplace banter.

“What I failed to realize is that I wasn’t the only one laughing. And there were other people seeing what was going on, hearing about what was going on, and silently affected by my behavior, by the behavior of the other participants. Females. And men. And quite frankly, unacceptable behavior.”

Since his firing, Zaun has had a managerial and coaching stint. He was hired in January by the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League as part of their coaching staff. In May, Zaun was promoted to the role of interim manager, but was fired in July.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash