Red Sox Outfielder Jarren Duran Suspended for Homophobic Slur Towards Fan

Homophobic Slur Controversy

Boston Red Sox out­field­er Jar­ren Duran has been sus­pend­ed for two games after he was caught on a hot mic direct­ing a homo­pho­bic slur towards a heck­ling fan dur­ing Sun­day’s game against the Hous­ton Astros.

Duran, who was named to his first MLB All-Star team last month, was heard shout­ing “Shut up you fing f**” to the spec­ta­tor at Fen­way Park. 

The Red Sox have announced that Duran’s two-game sus­pen­sion will be unpaid, with his salary from the affect­ed fix­tures to be donat­ed to an LGBTQ+ organization.

Apology and Suspension

Pri­or to receiv­ing the sus­pen­sion, Duran issued an apol­o­gy through the Red Sox orga­ni­za­tion, admit­ting that he failed as a role mod­el for young fans. In his state­ment, the 27-year-old said: “Dur­ing tonight’s game, I used a tru­ly hor­rif­ic word when respond­ing to a fan. I feel awful know­ing how many peo­ple I offend­ed and dis­ap­point­ed. I apol­o­gize to the entire Red Sox orga­ni­za­tion, but more impor­tant­ly to the entire LGBTQ com­mu­ni­ty. Our young fans are sup­posed to be able to look up to me as a role mod­el, but tonight I fell far short of that respon­si­bil­i­ty. I will use this oppor­tu­ni­ty to edu­cate myself and my team­mates and grow as a person.”

Impact on Duran’s Career

The inci­dent is a sig­nif­i­cant set­back for Duran, who was hav­ing a sol­id sea­son for the Red Sox. The out­field­er is bat­ting .291 with 14 home runs and was recent­ly hon­ored with the team’s Heart and Hus­tle award.

This sus­pen­sion and the back­lash from his com­ments could poten­tial­ly have a last­ing impact on his rep­u­ta­tion and stand­ing with­in the orga­ni­za­tion and the league.