North Carolina state radio host Gary Hahn was suspended indefinitely Friday after making racist remarks while announcing the Duke’s Mayo Bowl game between NC State and Maryland. Hahn made an unnecessary offensive comment related to “illegal aliens” at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and was immediately suspended by Learfield, the company that runs the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Hahn’s ‘illegal alien’ comment leads to indefinite suspension
It can hardly be called a slip of the tongue, but a racist blunder by an NC State radio host led to his suspension Friday. Gary Hahn was commenting on Duke’s Mayo Bowl game when he unnecessarily mentioned ‘illegal aliens’ at the Sun Bowl being played in El Paso, Texas.
“Among all the illegal aliens in El Paso, there are UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6,” Hahn said before turning over to a reporter. Hahn was merely providing an update on the scoring in the Sun Bowl being played between UCLA and Pittsburgh. However, like many drunken uncles at Christmas dinner, he couldn’t hold his tongue when presented with the opportunity to air his views on a political issue.
Here’s what got NCSU broadcaster Gary Hahn immediately and indefinitely suspended after today’s broadcast: pic.twitter.com/4qkyQ1jzT2
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) December 30, 2022
Hahn was immediately suspended by his employer, Learfield. They are the parent company of the Wolfpack Sports Network.
“Learfield has indefinitely suspended Wolfpack Sports Network play-by-play announcer Gary Hahn from his contract following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast,” said Wolfpack Sports Properties General Manager Kyle Winchester.
Hahn has been commentating on NC State sports since 1991 and has won several awards for his work as a sportscaster with the program. In which case, one wonders how he could have thought such an inappropriate comment was suitable for the airwaves. Since it wasn’t even the game he was commenting on, it makes for an even stranger statement.
It is not currently known if Hahn will be hired by the company.
