Tennessee Reporter Kasey Funderburg forced to resign over racist tweets she posted 8 to 9 years ago when she was a teen. Revelation follows twitter exchange with Richard G. West parody account after fans were encouraged to wear black face after TN beat Kentucky.
Because the internet never forgets even if you do (or change)…
A University of Tennessee sideline reporter is out of a job, after use of the n-word in tweets when she was a teenager resurfacing.
Kasey Funderburg, 26, who worked for the Vol Network and has appeared on the ESPN-operated SEC Network, as a sports reporter resigned, an athletic department spokesperson told Knox News.
An official reason for her resignation wasn’t revealed, but it comes days after old Twitter posts of hers surfaced from 2013 and 2014 in which she used the n-word. Funderburg was 17 or 18-years-old at the time when she posted the racial slurs.
A spokesman for Tennessee’s athletic department declined to go into detail about her resignation, other than to say it became effective October 27. Officially, Funderburg was a host in Tennessee Athletics’ broadcasting department who also had on-air roles in various Vol Network programming.
The internet never forgets
The tweets were revealed following her online interaction with an alleged parody Twitter account known as Richard G. West, who frequently targets the University of Tennessee and their fans.
On Saturday, Tennessee wore “dark mode” black uniforms in their win against Kentucky to remain undefeated.
Days earlier, the account, ‘Richard G. West’ tweeted, ‘All fans will be asked to wear black clothes and paint their face all black as well.’
Funderburg reportedly responded to the tweet denouncing the statement, which led to her past tweets being discovered.
‘THIS IS A FAKE ACCOUNT and it’s disgusting that this person thinks putting out a joke like this is okay. Please don’t believe everything you read on Twitter,’ Funderburg posted, according according to Outkick. ‘Please don’t believe everything you read on Twitter.’
In a separate tweet, Funderburg reportedly posted: ‘A person who thinks it’s funny to put out that Tennessee is asking fans to wear blackface is disgusting. This is where I stand.’
It wasn’t long Twitter accounts began posting her old tweets, in which she used the n-word, according to Outkick.
We decided as a society a long time ago that we would erase actual arrest records for minors based on their youth and yet we are still firing people for Tweets they sent as minors? It’s insanely illogical and dumb. https://t.co/6dGe53eTXB
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 27, 2022
‘plz don let yo n***a down’
‘plz don let yo n***a down’ Funderburg, wrote in 2014 in one alleged tweet.
Two similar tweets were also revealed in shared screen shots.
Since her resignation, a Change.org petition has been launched to bring her back to the Vol Network.
The petition went on to gain more than 1,000 signatures before it was closed Tuesday morning. It remained unclear who or why the petition was pulled down.
