NBC Defends Firing Jeremy Roenick From NHL Broadcast Coverage

Ex-NHL player Jeremy Roenick’s claims that he was fired as a sports commentator for making inappropriate comments only because he is male and heterosexual should be dismissed, because he was legitimately terminated for violating his contract’s morals clause, Comcast Corp. and NBC told the Southern District of New York.

Roenick’s proposed “comparators"—a woman and a gay male colleague who weren’t fired after he alleges they made inappropriate comments—aren’t similar enough, because they were performing a sketch and reading from a script, the companies said.

Roenick asserts that NBC skating analysts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir “participated in a vulgar spoof” ...