Backlash Grows Over Joe Ricketts’ Racist, Islamophobic Emails

Joe Ricketts
Joe Ricketts has apologized for controversial emails. (Associated Press)
Joe Ricketts
Joe Ricketts has apologized for controversial emails. (Associated Press)

Backlash Grows Over Joe Ricketts’ Racist, Islamophobic Emails

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The owners of the Chicago Cubs are facing public scrutiny after a series of emails from family patriarch Joe Ricketts leaked earlier this week. Those emails included racist and Islamophobic jokes, and endorsed conspiracy theories.

Some fans are calling on the Cubs to make things right. Others are rethinking their relationship to the team.

WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye Stout and Odette Yousef join the Morning Shift to discuss the backlash and how other sports franchises have dealt with similar incidents. Attorney and sports legal analyst Exavier Pope also joins the conversation.

GUESTS: Cheryl Raye Stout, WBEZ Sports Contributor

Odette Yousef, reporter for WBEZ’s Race, Class and Communities desk

Exavier Pope, attorney and sports legal contributor for The Athletic and Forbes

Kamran Hussain, President of the Muslim Community Center

LEARN MORE: Here Are The Racist Conspiracy Emails Rotting Right-Wing Billionaire Joe Ricketts’ Brain (Splinter News 2/5/19)