The Aporia · Trail Blazers announcer breaks silence after firing in wake of problematic posts resurfacing

Trail Blazers announcer breaks silence after firing in wake of problematic posts resurfacing

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Gamba-Ellis, T. (2026, October 2). Trail Blazers announcer breaks silence after firing in wake of problematic posts resurfacing. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/02/sports/trail-blazers-announcer-braiden-bell-breaks-silence-one-day-after-firing/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Braiden Bell, former Trail Blazers play-by-play broadcaster, apologized on social media after being fired for racist and misogynistic posts from his X account that resurfaced shortly before his hiring was announced. The posts included derogatory comments about Asian people and used slurs to refer to women. Portland’s decision came hours after the announcement of Bell's hire to replace Kevin Calabro, following a discovery by a local journalist who informed the team. The Trail Blazers stated they have zero tolerance for such language and that Bell violated their policies and values.

Written by AI on 2026-10-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Portland Trail Blazers fired their newly hired television play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell hours after announcing his hiring due to racist and misogynistic posts from his teenage years. The posts, made on X (formerly Twitter) between 2012 and 2013 when Bell was around 15 years old, included derogatory comments about "Asian people" and used terms like "slut" in reference to women. KGW in Portland uncovered these posts before the Blazers officially terminated Bell's employment. The team stated they have a zero-tolerance policy for such comments, violating both league policies and their own values. Bell later apologized on X, saying his past tweets do not reflect who he is today. His legal team has since demanded his reinstatement, arguing that a teenager’s words from fourteen years ago should not dictate the rest of his professional life.

Written for “Fired Announcer Teen Tweets” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

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“While both articles refer to Braiden Bell's firing by the Trail Blazers due to resurfaced old tweets, Article A covers his initial apology after being fired, while Article B discusses a legal demand for reinstatement that occurred days later.”

Fired Blazers announcer makes plea to team after firing for racist tweets made as teen Different event

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Hedges 1 of 31 claims Outlet record 66/100

“Article A describes Bell's initial apology after being fired, while Article B covers his subsequent plea for a second chance several days later.”

Media sinks to new low by digging up tweets that got announcer fired by cowardly Blazers Different event

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Hedges 1 of 46 claims Outlet record 69/100

“While both articles discuss Braiden Bell's firing by the Trail Blazers, Article A reports on his apology after being fired, while Article B criticizes the decision and portrays him as a victim.”

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sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Who wrote this

Thomas Gamba-Ellis

51 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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Also by Thomas Gamba-Ellis

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2026-11-01 · New York Post

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 51 articles by Thomas Gamba-Ellis →

Narrative

Claims (19 extracted, 1 hedged)

The now-former Trail Blazers play-by-play broadcaster Braiden Bell has spoken out for the first time since his Thursday firing. asserted

broadcaster → speak → firing

Bell, who was axed just hours after Portland announced his hiring over resurfaced racist and misogynistic posts on X, posted an apology statement to social media on Friday. asserted

Portland → ax → Friday

“I am deeply sorry for the language that I used on Twitter,” Bell wrote on X. “These tweets, while wrong, were written by me 14 years ago while I was only 15 years old and have no reflection of who I am today. asserted

I → use → reflection

I do not take lightly any harm it causes now. asserted

it → take → harm

“I regret this being my first impression to many of you online, but I can take solace in knowing that the people who truly know me understand that this is not the kind of person I am. asserted

I → regret → person

Again, I’d like to apologize to anyone who was hurt by my words and will continue to always treat people with kindness and respect.” asserted

who → like → kindness

The social media posts in question were posted from Bell’s X account in 2012 and ’13, and featured derogatory comments about “Asian people.” asserted

posts → post → people

Bell, 29, also used the terms “wh—s” and “s–t” to refer to women in some posts. asserted

Bell → use → posts

By Friday evening, posts using the inflammatory language were deleted from Bell’s X account when viewed by The Post. asserted

posts → use → Post

According to KGW in Portland, one of its journalists previously discovered the posts and informed the Trail Blazers before Bell was fired. uncertain

Bell → accord → Blazers

“The Portland Trail Blazers have zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments,” the Blazers said in a statement. asserted

Blazers → have → statement

“Social media posts made by our recently announced play-by-play broadcaster are in clear violation of team and league policies, as well as our values and expectations. asserted

posts → make → policies

Therefore, we will not be moving forward with this broadcaster. asserted

we → move → broadcaster

“The play-by-play role carries a long legacy of excellence, on the broadcast and in character, and we hold that standard without exception. asserted

we → carry → exception

We did not meet our own bar in this process, and for that we apologize to Blazers fans and to Rip City. asserted

we → meet → City

We believe strongly that everyone who is a part of Rip City should feel welcome and safe and we will make sure that our new broadcaster reflects these values. asserted

broadcaster → believe → values

We will do better.” It was announced that Portland hired Bell earlier on Thursday, who was brought on to replace Kevin Calabro, the longtime voice of the team. asserted

who → do → team

Before being hired by the Trail Blazers, Bell called games for Cal Baptist and Arizona State on ESPN+. asserted

Bell → hire → ESPN+

He then did play-by-play for the WNBA’s Mercury and the Suns’ G League team. asserted

He → do → Mercury

Trail Blazers announcer breaks silence after firing in wake of problematic posts resurfacing

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Claims (19 extracted, 1 hedged)