The Nationals and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) are aware of a sexual misconduct allegation against broadcaster F.P. Santangelo, according to The Athletic‘s Brittany Ghiroli.
The former baseball player was not allowed to work Saturday’s broadcast, the fourth time in eight days he’s been absent from the booth.
An anonymous woman told The Athletic that Santangelo made an “unwanted advance” multiple years ago, even though she repeatedly told him to stop. The woman alleges that Santangelo sexually assaulted her.
She later submitted multiple anonymous Instagram posts detailing what happened, which multiple sources confirmed to The Athletic that Washington and MASN are aware of. They also confirmed the accusations are the reason why Santangelo has not been on air.
The first time the commentator was pulled happened last weekend for the team’s series against the Marlins. He ended up returning to the booth on Tuesday, tweeting: “On my way to the ballpark. Can’t wait to see everyone tonight! Go #Nats!”
Santangelo worked Wednesday’s game but was pulled from Thursday’s MLB Network telecast. However, he was allowed to call Friday’s series opener against the Yankees.
The 53-year-old has worked as the Nationals’s color commentator since 2011, and while he is the team’s broadcaster, Santangelo is technically a MASN employee.
The woman making the allegations is not an employee of MASN, the Orioles (who have majority ownership of the network) or the Nationals.
After the publication of The Athletic‘s story, Santangelo texted the following statement to the outlet: “What I have read in your recently published article from an anonymous individual about me is untrue and did not happen. This is not representative of who I am as a man or a professional. I am confident that my name and reputation will be fully cleared.”
The Nationals released a statement, acknowledging that they were made aware of the allegations and that the allegations of his conduct “are inconsistent with our values as an organization.”
“We alerted MASN and revoked our approval of him as a member of our broadcast team. MASN assured us that they would investigate these allegations thoroughly. After MASN notified us that their investigation was complete and F.P. should be reinstated, additional posts appeared. Once again, we notified MASN and revoked our approval of F.P. as a member of our broadcast team indefinitely.”
MASN released a statement later Saturday evening.
