Marly Rivera was a baseball reporter on the Home Run Derby, some “Sunday Night Baseball” telecasts, and was an ESPN Radio MLB playoff game analyst. She also wrote for ESPN’s digital platforms and had worked with ESPN for 13 years. Until an incident at Yankee Stadium eventually resulted in her getting fired.
The events that led to the layoff commenced last Tuesday and were caught on video, when Rivera was present to conduct a scheduled on-air interview with Yankee Aaron Judge. Freelance reporter Ivón Gaete, however, walked up to the Yankee and started asking him questions, despite Rivera’s insistence that it was a prescheduled interview.
Upon Gaete’s disregard and the escalation of the incident, Rivera resorted to calling her a “f***ing c***” and leaving the area.
This was uttered and took place in front of Judge and a number of children and Yankees fans waiting for Judge to sign memorabilia.
Rivera released a statement to the New York Post on Wednesday apologizing for her reaction.
“I fully accept responsibility for what I said, which I should not have.”
Gaete, who was on assignment for Tokyo Broadcasting, is the wife of MLB Vice President of Communications, John Blundell.
Rivera insisted that since she and Blundell have had disagreements over the years, it could have been the reason for the escalation of the incident and why it resulted in her getting fired.
“There were extenuating circumstances but that in no way is an excuse for my actions. I am a professional with a sterling reputation across baseball and I do believe that I am being singled out by a group of individuals with whom I have a long history of professional disagreements.”
However, on Thursday, The Washington Post revealed two more incidents in which she had acted with hostility towards a fellow reporter. One reporter was called a “white b***h”, and the other a “fake Hispanic”.
Marly Rivera covered MLB, with an emphasis on the Yankees, and she worked for both the English language platforms and for ESPN Deportes.
