Jays' Bass apologizes for anti-LGBTQ2S+ Instagram post
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Toronto Blue Jays reliever Anthony Bass apologized for sharing an anti-LGBTQ2S+ video on his Instagram account.
The 35-year-old Bass made a short appearance in front of reporters in front of the Jays' dugout ahead of Tuesday's game with the Milwaukee Brewers and did not take questions.
“I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine. I am truly sorry for that," Bass said. “I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday. I apologized with them, and as of right now I am using the Blue Jays resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward.”
The video that Bass shared on Monday featured a call for a Christian-led boycott of U.S. retailer Target over their “demonic” choice to display and sell Pride-themed merchandise.
Last week, Target announced it would be removing some of its Pride displays from stores, citing threats made towards staff members.
"Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing while at work," Target said in a May 23 statement. "Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior."
This was not the first time Bass’s social media usage became news this season. In April, Bass took to Twitter to claim that a United Airlines employee forced his pregnant wife to clean up a food mess his young child made during a flight. The post created heated debate on social media, with Bass later claiming that the matter was dealt with internally by the airline.
A native of Dearborn, Mich., Bass is in his second stint with the team, having been reacquired last summer from the Miami Marlins. He previously made 26 appearances for the team during the 2020 season.
He has appeared in 20 games for the team this season with a 4.50 earned-run average and 1.333 WHIP over 18.0 innings of work.
Bass has made 380 career appearances across 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Marlins, and Jays.
For his career, Bass is 16-28 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.278 WHIP over 522.2 innings pitched.