The Washington Capitals and the NHL have responded after misogynistic social media messages attributed to Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic caused a stir online Wednesday.
In a series of messages on Instagram, Leipsic used foul language to make disparaging remarks about women’s appearance, including calling the wife of former Canucks teammate Tanner Pearson fat.
Under a photo of current Capitals teammates Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway, Leipsic wrote “(Expletive) they’re losers.” Leipsic played much of the 2019-20 season on the fourth line alongside Dowd and Hathaway.
In other posts, he claimed to be “significantly” high and appeared to say he loved cocaine, though it’s unclear if those messages were serious or made in jest.
Jack Rodewald of the Florida Panthers also participated in the group chat in question.
“The National Hockey League strongly condemns the misogynistic and reprehensible made by players Brendan Leipsic and Jack Rodewald in a private group chat that has surfaced on social media,” the NHL said in a statement. “There is no place in our League for such statements, attitudes and behavior, no matter the forum. We will address this inexcusable conduct with the clubs and players involved.”
A Capitals spokesperson said they will handle the matter with Leipsic internally.
Leipsic — who deleted his Instagram account as his posts spread around the internet — later tweeted an apology.
“Yesterday my friend’s Instagram account was hacked and an individual circulated images that are representative of private conversations I was a part of,” Leipsic wrote. “I fully recognize how inappropriate and offensive these comments are and sincerely apologize to everyone for my actions. I am committed to learning from this and becoming a better person by taking time to determine how to move forward in an accountable, meaningful way. I am truly sorry.”
Before the season was suspended, Leipsic, 25, was playing in his first season with the Capitals on a one-year contract and fell out of the starting lineup when they acquired winger Ilya Kovalchuk. He has bounced around five teams over the last five years.
The following video contains screenshots of Leipsic’s comments, some of which contain foul language.
Brendan Leipsic is DONE lmao pic.twitter.com/9IFntetdCS
— Matteo Fabrizi 🇮🇹 (@HockeyXT) May 6, 2020
Statement from the National Hockey League. pic.twitter.com/aZm1M2wZBk
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 7, 2020
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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