Marly Rivera, ESPN's national baseball reporter, has seemingly maintained a low profile after being terminated due to an incident at Yankee Stadium last week.
Rivera was recorded using offensive language toward a fellow female reporter. Following the news of the event, Rivera's social media accounts were deactivated, and her employee biography has since been removed from the ESPN website.
The incident occurred last Tuesday during a Yankees-Angels game in New York when Rivera disagreed with sports reporter Ivn Gaete. Gaete, a freelance journalist, and wife of MLB Vice President of Communications John Blundell, was present to interview Aaron Judge for Tokyo Broadcasting, focusing on Angels star pitcher Shohei Ohtani. Rivera claimed she had already arranged a time to speak with the Yankee captain, but Gaete allegedly ignored her attempts to communicate the schedule.
In frustration, Rivera was captured on video using the vulgar term "fking ct." Despite Rivera's subsequent attempt to apologize, Gaete refused to accept the apology. Rivera, who had worked with ESPN for 13 years, primarily covering the MLB and the Yankees, told The Post, "I fully accept responsibility for what I said, which I should not have. There were extenuating circumstances, but that in no way is an excuse for my actions."
She said, "I am a professional with a sterling reputation across baseball, and I believe that I am being singled out by a group of individuals with whom I have a long history of professional disagreements." Rivera noted that she and Blundell have had disputes over the years, which she believes contributed to the escalation of the incident and her eventual dismissal.
John Blundell declined to comment on the matter, and Ivn Gaete could not be reached immediately for a statement. Marly Rivera, who is bilingual, had worked on ESPN's English language platforms as a digital writer and on-air personality, as well as for ESPN Deportes.
In a 2021 interview with Sports Talk NY, Rivera highlighted the importance of kindness in journalism, citing Claire Smith, a veteran ESPN writer, and her mentor, as an example. She said, "The number one thing that Claire Smith has that I try to have is kindness. This business, unfortunately, is not very kind, and I feel that is sort of what you have to exude."
Throughout her career at ESPN, Rivera was an MLB playoff game analyst for ESPN Radio, a dugout reporter on the Home Run Derby, and appeared on some "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts. With her departure from the network, ESPN has lost a seasoned reporter focusing on the Yankees and MLB coverage. It remains to be seen how Rivera and ESPN will move forward after this incident.
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