Fired Chicago Reporter Says She's Sorry
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Susannah Collins, the former Comcast SportsNet reporter who left amid a backlash surrounding a mistakenly uttered word on live TV and the personal history it dragged up, on Tuesday apologized and acknowledged missteps.
A week ago, Collins inadvertently said that the Blackhawks had a "tremendous amount of sex during the regular season." Intending to say "success," she immediately corrected herself, but the clip spread wildly on the Internet and became the butt of jokes on late night TV.
On Thursday, Comcast announced that Collins was no longer a reporter with the company, citing "circumstances unrelated to her on-air remarks."
The mistake focused attention on a series of YouTube videos Collins co-hosted for a show called "Sports Nutz" that were often raunchy, sexually explicit and employed potentially racist stereotypes.
"The intention of that show was to present a satirical, tongue-in-cheek approach to sports but, unfortunately, some of the material it contained was off-color and offensive," Collins said in her statement Tuesday. "I understand why some may have been offended by it and for this I am truly sorry."
She added that the content of the show didn't reflect her personal opinions and ended the statement by expressing gratitude for her former SportsNet job.
"It has always been my dream to cover my hometown teams on the network I loved watching. I have worked tirelessly to develop my skills as a sports reporter, anchor and host, and I want to thank the city of Chicago for allowing me that opportunity," Collins wrote.
