New York Mets management has fired general manager Jared Porter after an ESPN report detailing his sexual harassment of a female reporter.
It took less than 12 hours for the New York Mets to fire general manager Jared Porter after it was revealed he sent explicit photos and messages to a female reporter in 2017.
Jeff Passan and Mina Kimes from ESPN broke the story late Monday night, and by Tuesday morning the Mets had gathered enough information to make a decision.
Steve Cohen, the Mets new owner, released a statement on Tuesday announcing the firing while noting that there is a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment.
“We have terminated Jared Porter this morning. In my initial press conference, I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it,” Cohen tweeted. “There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
New York Mets publicly condemn Jared Porter’s abusive behavior
Mets president Sandy Alderson also released a statement announcing that Porter had been fired with cause.
“The New York Mets have terminated General Manager Jared Porter, effective immediately. Jared’s actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets’ standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
Initially, the Mets said they were going to gather facts before making a decision. But less than 12 hours after the story broke, Cohen and the team had heard all they needed to in order to make a decision.
Porter sent explicit messages to a female reporter while he was working for the Chicago Cubs back in 2017. The ESPN report detailed over 60 messages that Porter sent, including a photo of a penis (Porter denied that it was his, rather that it was one that he saved from an image search).
The reporter, who was not named in the story, has since left the MLB beat due specifically to the toxicity created by Porter’s harassment. She cited fear of repercussions for speaking out as a reason for wanting to not go public with the story when it happened.