Here is the issue I have with this.
The only reason Gottlieb walked back on his comments was that he was sued. How many other things has Gottlieb lied about and amplified on his platform? If his sources, in this case, were bad, how can you trust any of his sources? Why is Fox Sports employing someone like this and allowing them to communicate this information to the public?
If you aren’t familiar with the lawsuit, here is what happened.
One of the most bizarre MLB stories from the 2022 season has likely come to an end. Fox Sports talk show host Doug Gottlieb retracted his “incorrect” report about Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman and apologized to agent Casey Close for the error.
Gottlieb released a statement Wednesday, stating he prematurely reported an inaccurate story.
In June, Gottlieb sent out a tweet, which he has since deleted, suggesting Close neglected to tell Freeman about a contract offer from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason. Freeman was a free agent and opted to sign with the Dodgers, leaving Atlanta after 12 seasons.
Freeman returned to Atlanta as a member of the Dodgers in June and got emotional speaking about his decision to leave. Freeman fired Close a few days after that series.
It was around that time that Gottlieb sent out a tweet suggesting Close failed to tell Freeman about a contract offer from the Braves.
Close filed a libel suit against Gottlieb, saying the accusations were false. The threat of that lawsuit was enough to make Gottlieb retract his story and tweet.
Close released a statement Wednesday suggesting the lawsuit will not move forward now that Gottlieb has apologized and retracted the story.
Gottlieb says after investigating, he realized his source was wrong and has apologized to Close.
Life will move on as if nothing happened, but it feels like it should have been a bigger story. I think you can figure out why it wasn’t.
Flip the page for Gottlieb’s apology tweet.