Ex-college football coach & ESPN analyst, Lou Holtz, made some regrettable comments regarding immigrants and their assimilation into American culture, and now it appears the public pressure is weighing on him.
Holtz, who is currently ducking shots after publicly saying he doesn’t want to speak immigrants language, celebrate their holidays, or root for their soccer teams; is now back-peddling harder than Richard Sherman.
TMZ caught up with Holtz to get his side of the “misunderstanding”:
“I like to joke. I wished I hadn’t said, ‘I don’t want to celebrate your holidays, and cheer for your soccer teams.’ It was said in jest. But I stand by the rest of what I said about coming to America to become us.”
“All 4 of my grandparents were immigrants. They all came through Ellis Island. When they wouldn’t want me to know what they were saying, they’d speak Ukrainian. I’d ask them to teach me Ukrainian. They’d say, ‘No, you live in America. You speak English.'”
“I challenge you, I defy you to find one person who I’ve ever been racist toward.”
Holtz claims the backlash isn’t affecting him but it is taking it’s toll on his wife, describing her as “very upset”.
In case you needed a refresher on Holtz’s controversial comments, they can be found, in full, below: