NHL condemns remarks made by Washington Capitals' Leipsic in private chat
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 16: Brendan Leipsic #28 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK (FOX 5 DC) - The National Hockey League is condemning "misogynistic" and "reprehensible" comments made by Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic and Florida Panthers forward Jack Rodewald in a private group chat on Instagram.
ESPN reports Leipsic, 25, insulted NHL player's wives' appearances in the group chat and also made sexual comments about other women. Leipsic also commented on a photo of Capitals linemates Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway, saying, "F--- they're losers."
Screenshots of the comments reportedly went viral on Twitter and Reddit today.
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On Wednesday, the NHL released the following statement on the remarks:
“The National Hockey League strongly condemns the misogynistic and reprehensible remarks made by players Brendan Leipsic and Jack Rodewald in a private group chat that has surfaced on social media. There is no place in our League for such statements, attitudes and behavior, no matter the forum. We will address this inexcusable conduct with the clubs and players involved.”
Leipsic's Instagram page has since been deleted.
He shared the following statement on Twitter, saying, in part, "I fully recognize how inappropriate and offensive these comments are and sincerely apologize to everyone for my actions.”
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A Capitals' spokesman says: “We are aware of the unacceptable and offensive comments made by Brendan Leipsic in a private conversation on social media. We will handle this matter internally.”