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F.P. Santangelo, the Nationals’ announcer for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), was kept off the air several times over the past week in wake of sexual misconduct allegations made against the 53-year-old broadcaster on Instagram, according to the Athletic.
The report states that a 31-year-old woman detailed her experience with Santangelo anonymously on Instagram, saying the broadcaster made unwanted advances, repeatedly ignored her when she asked him to stop, then assaulted her. The Athletic confirmed the allegations were the reason Santangelo was kept off the air.
Santangelo was first taken off the air in last weekend’s series against the Marlins, with the network not responding to questions as to why. He returned to announce Tuesday and Wednesday’s games against the Braves, but was absent again on Thursday’s MLB Network simulcast. He returned again for Friday’s game against the Yankees before being taken off Saturday and Sunday.
“What I have read in your recently published article from an anonymous individual about me is untrue and did not happen,” Santangelo told the website. “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 incident took place several years ago, according to the report, and the woman said she thought about emailing MASN at the time it happened but was worried that they would not take the claims seriously.
“If I never saw him again, I’d be perfectly happy,” the woman told The Athletic. “But he’s well known and it is bothersome to see someone in his private life not be respectful of people. I don’t have any motives behind this other than I wanted to avoid this happening to other women.”
In a statement, the Nationals told The Athletic: “Late last week, we were made aware of allegations of conduct by F.P. Santangelo that 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 that 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. Moving forward, we will refer all questions regarding this investigation to F.P.’s employer, MASN.”
Santangelo played seven seasons as an outfielder for the Expos, Giants, Dodgers and A’s.
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