What did Gerald Bourguet say? Phoenix Suns NBA reporter fired over Charlie Kirk death posts 

Charlie Kirk Speaks At The Cambridge Union - Source: Getty
Phoenix Suns NBA reporter Gerald Bourguet fired over posts on Charlie Kirk's death. (Image via Nordin Catic/Getty Images)

Gerald Bourguet, a Phoenix Suns lead writer at PHNX Sports, was fired after making controversial remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death on X. Kirk, 31, was shot and killed on Wednesday, September 10, while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University campus.

Ad

While many condemned the shooting despite ideological differences with Kirk, a conservative political activist and Trump supporter, some had a different perspective. On September 11, Gerald took to X and wrote:

""Political differences" are not the same thing as spewing hateful rhetoric on a daily basis, and refusing to mourn a life devoted to that cause is not the same thing as celebrating gun violence. Just so we're 100% clear on that."
Ad
Ad

Kirk, who was the father of a daughter and a son, was mourned by many after his untimely death, which left his family grieving. Addressing their concerns about his young children, who lost their father on Wednesday, Gerald Bourguet wrote:

""He was a father" Half of y'all didn't give a DAMN about doing anything to stop gun violence when the victims of mass shootings were LITERAL children. And those kids weren't bigots spreading genocidal propaganda, or a mindset he directly fed into with this Holy Grail of Ironies
Ad

Gerald shared a screenshot of a 2023 Newsweek article as a reference, which reported Charlie Kirk's past remarks about gun deaths. The NBA reporter continued:

"If you're saddened by today's "political violence," horrified by the video, or repulsed by my response, ask yourself why your reaction was different when it came to school shootings, mass deportations or the HUNDREDS of videos of horrific murders in Gaza (which Kirk cheered on)
Ad
"Truly don't care if you think it's insensitive or poor timing to decline to respect an evil man who died. Too many of you are more concerned with being polite and *appearing* to be good people rather than showing some damn backbone and standing on principal to condemn hate"

Gerald Bourguet was terminated from PHNX Sports following posts about Charlie Kirk's death

Gerald Bourguet's X posts left netizens divided. While some people demanded PHNX Sports fire him from their network, others resonated with him and praised him for voicing his thoughts.

Ad

However, PHNX Sports announced Gerald's fate via an X post on Thursday:

"The opinions expressed by our employees do not represent the views of PHNX or ALLCITY Network...We have addressed this matter with the individual and made the decision to part ways."
PHNX Sports fires Gerald Bourguet over Charlie Kirk remarks. (Image via X/@PHNX_Sports)
PHNX Sports fires Gerald Bourguet over Charlie Kirk remarks. (Image via X/@PHNX_Sports)

According to LinkedIn, Gerald Bourguet joined PHNX Sports in September 2021.

Ad

Many approved of PHNX Sports' decision to fire Gerald over his remarks about Charlie Kirk. Several others, on the other hand, called out the network for letting go of Gerald and called the decision "disappointing", "spineless", and "terrible".

Following Gerald Bourguet's termination from PHNX Sports, a GoFundMe was created to support his family.

Quick Links

Edited by Amrita Das
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
down arrow icon
More
bell-icon Manage notifications