Flyers

“How Many Times is She Gonna Ask this Fucking Question?” – Flyers Apologize After Hot Mic Incident (UPDATED)

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 11th, 2023 · 8:01 PM EDT

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Check this out:

Someone from the Philadelphia Flyers organization is getting fired 😬 pic.twitter.com/gSCy6SodpC

— Canadian Hockey News (@hockeynewschn) July 11, 2023

“How many times is she gonna ask this fucking question?”

This happened earlier Tuesday. It was a streamed media call and someone from the Flyers’ organization, not on the Zoom call but responsible for broadcasting it instead, came in on a hot mic and said that above line in reference to a question from Giana Han at the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Flyers then put out this statement:

pic.twitter.com/WctikzBu4n

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 11, 2023

We’re told this was actually a marketing thing. The employee you hear in the video works in the “creative content” department, which is a part of the marketing department. That’s how it’s labeled on the Flyers’ website. 

But yeah, this came to light earlier in the day when NHL reporter Mollie Walker tweeted the following, with Anthony’s response in clarification:

You mean the @NHLFlyers PR Dpt. that has won 4 Dillman awards as the best PR staff in the NHL?
And, isn't it a reporter's job to ensure accuracy before publicizing? If so, are you SURE it was a member of PR?
Or did your agenda get in the way?
Talk about a need to "be better."

— Anthony SanFilippo (@AntSanPhilly) July 11, 2023

Right, so that’s the gist. Big screw up here. Maybe someone gets fired. We’ll see what happens from here, and how the Inquirer decides to respond. You may recall the Flyers leaked/gave the Chuck Fletcher firing to the Inky a few months back, yeah? Obviously an existing relationship there, and Giana Han is one of the few beat reporters that is at every event and every game, so it’s certainly in the Flyers’ best interest to keep that Inky connection amicable. I do wonder if the Inquirer puts out some kind of statement of their own. Maybe the guild will.

Tolentino did tweet this:

https://twitter.com/JCTSports/status/1678911994563293186?s=20

EDIT 1 – You hear that second voice that comes in at the end and says something mostly inaudible, but the “Flyers suck” is in there? That made me laugh out loud. What a doozy of a story. (CLARIFICATION – this second person is another Flyers employee, it’s not Giana Han. This person (a female voice) is being sardonic and mocking the question, saying something that sounds like “the Flyers suck, why do you want to be here?”)

EDIT 2 – I do think Jonesy getting out in front is the proper move here. Put out the statement, own it, blah blah. Good decision there.