Derek Holland on Thursday apologized for a skit that some found to be racially insensitive.
The San Francisco Giants pitcher appeared on MLB Network show “Intentional Talk” Wednesday, accompanied by team massage therapist Haro Ogawa. Ogawa, who is Japanese, was there as Holland’s “hype man” and played a stereotypical Asian. He did a lot of bowing, while Holland would say “much respect” to him.
Here’s a brief clip:
derek holland brought his “hype man” onto an intentional talk interview. the hype man spends the entire interview silent except when addressed.
holland then impersonates a strong asian accent to play for laughs. that’s the entire joke. that holland uses an asian accent. come on. pic.twitter.com/N3qhoYncro
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) August 22, 2018
The Giants issued a statement on Thursday about the matter and said they were “disappointed” by Holland’s behavior.
“The Giants were disappointed to learn of the Derek Holland’s behavior on Intentional Talk. We do not condone that type of behavior nor does it reflect our organizational values. Derek has taken full responsibility for his actions and has made a public apology.”
Holland opted to speak with the media after the team’s 3-1 win over the Mets and apologized. He called his actions “embarrassing” and took responsibility for what happened.
Here's the full statement Derek Holland made to reporters after today's game. pic.twitter.com/GY5pNyoT1m
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) August 23, 2018
“Obviously it was not meant to be that way so I want to make sure that anybody, or I shouldn’t say anybody, everybody for what I’ve done and what I’ve caused. Now it’s become a distraction to the team. I don’t want that. I don’t want to have offended anybody. I apologize for doing that and again, I’ve apologized to Haro and Taira.”
Holland has long been known for being a prankster and humorous, but it’s safe to say he missed the mark with this one.
