An announcer at a quarterfinals basketball game in 2021 is now seeking damages against the newspaper that incorrectly identified him as the culprit in a profanity-laced remark caught on a live mic nearly three years ago.
Matt Rowan was an announcer for a quarterfinals basketball game in March of 2021 between the girls basketball teams at Midwest City and Norman high schools. During the National Anthem, some of the Norman players were seen kneeling, prompting racial remarks from one of the broadcasters. Rowan later admitted that he was the one who made the racist remarks, however in the hours just after the incident happened, The Oklahoman erroneously reported that Rowan’s broadcast partner Scott Sapulpa was the person who made the remarks.
The tournament was hosted in Sapulpa at the Chieftain Center, and soon after Sapulpa Public Schools issued a stern rebuke of the incident and clarified that no Sapulpa Public Schools employees were involved.
According to NonDoc, Scott Sapulpa has now filed suit against The Oklahoman, seeking $1 million in damages.
The lawyers for Scott Sapulpa say that The Oklahoman initially published his name without properly confirming its accuracy and without talking to him beforehand. The journalists involved in the story say they had more than one source to confirm Scott Sapulpa as the broadcaster, and that they had tried to call him directly but got no answer and were unable to leave a voicemail.
The lawyers for the Oklahoman say the version of the story that identified Scott Sapulpa was only online for “about two and half hours,” adding that the corrected version of the story was actually the one that most readers saw.
For more information on the trial, read the full story at NonDoc.
