(Reuters) – Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who had already lost a sponsor for a degrading comment he made to a female reporter, apologized for the incident late on Thursday.
Newton was dropped by sponsor Dannon for the incident when he was asked a question by reporter Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer and smirked before saying: “it’s funny to hear a female talk about routes.”
He later used Twitter to post a video apology.
“After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women,” Newton said. “If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.
“I’m a father to two beautiful daughters, and at their age I try to instill in them that they can do and be anything that they want to be.
“During this whole process I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans, I realize that the joke was really on me. And I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this.”
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
