Flyers’ social media staffer caught on hot mic ripping reporter for ‘f–king question’

A hot mic has the Philadelphia Flyers in some hot water following a virtual press conference on Tuesday. 

Members of the NHL club’s social media team were overheard making disparaging comments about an unidentified reporter’s question to newly acquired Garnet Hathaway during a live stream of the availability on Twitter.

The reporter asked the forward, who just signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia, what made them a destination while they’re going through a rebuild.

But as the journalist asked her question, another voice could be heard blasting the reporter for her inquiry.

“How many times is she going to ask this f–king question?” the voice could be heard saying. 

Another voice can also be heard saying, “Flyers suck, why are you even watching?” in a sardonic tone.

It did not appear that the player or reporters on the call could hear the commentary from the social media team.

The video with vulgar comments was only up a short while before it was taken down from the team’s social media account, but a clipped version of the video was later posted to Twitter by Lights Out Hockey.

The team addressed the situation a few hours later when it released a statement from team president Keith Jones. 

He added that the team reached out to both the reporter and their publication and apologized for the comments.

“Earlier today, our team’s social media account streamed a recording of a virtual press conference which included disrespectful remarks by members of our social media staff,” Jones said in the statement. “On behalf of the entire Flyers organization, I want to extend our apologies.

“Any disrespect towards reporters is completely unacceptable, especially when they are simply doing their job. We have reached out to the reporter and outlet personally to express our regret, and will continue to promote an environment of mutual respect when working with media.”

The statement, however, did not address if any members of the social media team would face any discipline for the comments.

Jones, who played 491 NHL games during his playing career, was a media member himself as an NHL studio and in-game analyst from 2005 until this year with stints at NBC and TNT. 

He also served as the Flyers’ color commentator on NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcasts.