Chip Caray Will Not be Suspended for Accidental Homophobic Slur: Sources

St. Louis Cardinals announcer Chip Caray will not be suspended or punished for now despite uttering a homophobic slur during a Cardinals game telecast Saturday, sources tell Front Office Sports.

During the fourth inning of FanDuel Sports Network Midwest’s broadcast of a game against the Reds, Caray was reading a promo for the club’s upcoming “Disability Pride Night.” 

That’s when he seemed to badly stumble over his narration—leading to an awkward 30 seconds of silence between him and analyst Brad Thompson.

“Disability Pride Night is Thursday, July 10. With a themed ticket, fans take home a Cardinals cap featuring the disability pride fa**, flag, and Cardinals in braille,” said Caray. The on-air duo went painfully silent until Thompson finally piped up with standard baseball narration (You can hear the dreaded glitch yourself via an Awful Announcing post on X/Twitter here).

FanDuel Sports Network Midwest declined to comment when FOS reached out on Saturday afternoon. But sources said the network is not disciplining Caray, the son of the late sportscaster Skip Caray and grandson of the late legendary announcer Harry Caray. Instead, the network is chalking it up to an “honest” mistake during a live read by an announcer who meant no insult to any viewers.

On social media channels, Caray’s Freudian slip immediately drew comparison to announcer Thom Brennaman dropping a homophobic slur during a Reds telecast in 2020 when he didn’t realize he was live. The announcer was exiled from broadcasting for nearly four years before landing a job with the CW to call college football games.