Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reacted to the Washington Redskins’ sexual harassment scandal Thursday, sharing a piece of advice for owner Dan Snyder.
Fifteen former female employees and two female journalists accused former high-ranking team officials of making unwelcome overtures toward them. As a result, Washington hired a prominent District-based law firm to investigate the claims.
“If you know Dan Snyder, if you’re involved with the Redskins, if you connect to them, tell Dan and tell his senior management you’ve got to just recognize what you did right and what you did wrong,” Cuban said on his weekly SiriusXM radio show. “You have to accept the mistakes you made.”
It’s a situation Cuban knows all too well. In 2018, an explosive Sports Illustrated report detailed allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic culture on the Mavericks’ business side. Cuban, like Snyder, wasn’t accused of acting inappropriately toward women in the piece, but faced criticism for letting it happen under his ownership.
After an investigation into Dallas’ workplace culture, Cuban hired Cynt Marshall as the team’s chief executive officer and donated $10 million to women’s groups.
On his radio show, Cuban said he “literally started crying” when first informed of the accusations years ago. He said the Mavericks went through the “exact same thing” as Washington.
Snyder put out a public statement Friday, saying sexual harassment has “no place” in the franchise or society. He also sent an internal letter to employees in which he vowed to “build a better organizational culture.”
“I made a lot of mistakes,” Cuban said, adding accepting responsibility is the “only way this is going to get resolved.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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