LA Galaxy release Aleksandar Katai following racist posts by his wife

[Armadilo]

Article

The Galaxy released midfielder Aleksandar Katai on Friday, two days after the team became aware of inflammatory messages posted on a social media account belonging to his wife.

Tea Katai's posts, which have been taken down, appeared to make light of the protests and looting that occurred in the wake of George Floyd's death while in police custody last week in Minneapolis. The team made the decision to release Katai after meeting with him following a training session Thursday.

Click to shrink...

"We believe strongly that we're a club that represents our staff, represents our players, represents our fans and our community," team president Chris Klein said. "The decision, in that respect, was not a difficult one. We have to hold to those values. This is not a soccer decision."

Click to shrink...

The first of Tea Katai's posts was a screenshot from a video showing two New York City police officers driving their vehicles through a crowd of demonstrators with a caption, in Serbian, that translates as "kill the s—s!" The second showed an apparent looter with boxes of Nike shoes below English-language text reading "Black Nikes Matter." The Associated Press reported Tea Katai also wrote another post in Serbian that described the protesters as "disgusting cattle."

Click to shrink...

After the Galaxy released a statement condemning the messages Wednesday, Katai placed a four-paragraph apology on Instagram, calling his wife's posts "unacceptable" and adding that "these views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family."

Click to shrink...

 

[Bus-TEE]

That's a tough spot to find yourself in, lose either your gig or your wife even if she does sound utterly unbearable.

 

[nekkid]

That's a tough spot to find yourself in, lose either your gig or your wife even if she does sound utterly unbearable.

Click to shrink...

I wonder if divorce would be less of a financial hit for someone like this when there's this sort of behaviour on record?

 

[Icepick_1878]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

 

[HorizonVanGogh]

Those lips lol. Lose the wife, you can find another!

 

[BossAttack]

Soon to be ex-wife.

 

[Armadilo]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

Click to shrink...

Looks like they bought out his contract, so he still got paid but let go.

 

[Pein]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

Click to shrink...

I agree, you're gonna monitor all of your families posts and content?

 

[gozu]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

Click to shrink...

Aha. That's your take, huh? The guy who married the violently racist woman is a victim of society?

I must have missed the part where he immediately announced he was divorcing her instead of repeating the lie "I know you caught me stabbing a guy to death but a murderer is not who I am".

People married to racists are racists. No exceptions. No sympathy.

 

[Loudninja]

I agree, you're gonna monitor all of your families posts and content?

Click to shrink...

He married to her is is this the same thing at all? She is a racist this shit just dont come out of no where.

 

[Commedieu]

I agree, you're gonna monitor all of your families posts and content?

Click to shrink...

If I'm a private company I'll do whatever I need to to protect my business' reputation. Bad for branding.

 

[BossAttack]

I agree, you're gonna monitor all of your families posts and content?

Click to shrink...

No, but you can monitor the person you sleep next to.

 

[ZeoVGM]

When I first read the headline, I thought it was a little unfair.

But thinking about it more, if your job is making millions of dollars by playing sports and one of the stipulations of keeping that job is your wife not being a racist monster, it's hard to feel that bad.

 

[flyinj]

Is it ok to lip shame people who do that to their lips?

 

[mattlikewhoa]

Bye 👋🏾 it's unfortunate that your wife messed up your pay day, and most likely career (in NA anyways), but she was definitely on some racist shit!

 

[DiscoShark]

Yeah I'm not okay with the guy being let go because of social media posts from the wife.

 

[Tremorah]

You dont condone what your WIFE says?

Dont famous couples you know, talk to each other or what?

 

[Khanimus]

"these views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family."

Click to shrink...

I mean you married her

 

[Deleted member 2802]

Looks like they bought out his contract, so he still got paid but let go.

Click to shrink...

Ah

 

[Delicious Waffles]

A lot of what I've read said it's unfair that he was released based on what his wife wrote but, to me, if her husband is part of a team, you're part of the team by association. You say something that makes you look bad, you make your husband look bad. Since her husband is part of the team, you make the team look bad. Thus, cutting him, to me, makes sense.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

If they bought out his contract, I don't really see the issue at all. Should have thought first before marrying a racist but I guess the heart wants what the heart wants...

 

[Meauxse]

I have no pity for this dude. Didn't respond to anything until the club did officially.

Different than blood, marriage is a choice. Keep that in mind when you choose to say that you are not OK with this.

 

[VariantX]

"these views are not ones that I share and are not tolerated in my family."

Click to shrink...

Why you lying?? Thats your wife. Your other half. Not your "old fashioned" or "eccentric" racist great-uncle. You brought that into your family by your own hand or it was always there.

 

[Eoin]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

Click to shrink...

If something like that were posted by his father or his sister or something, I think there'd be a good case for keeping him, especially if he had reacted quickly to distance himself from the comments. You can't choose family, and although you can disown them, that's a drastic step that most people wouldn't feel it's reasonable to expect someone else to take as a condition of employment.

Partners, though, are another thing - a long-term partnership is just about the clearest endorsement of another person that exists within our society. It's saying, publicly, that out of everyone else in the world, "this is the person that I love enough to want to spend the entire rest of my life with". It seems pretty reasonable to expect someone not only to know how their partner feels about most things, but to either share those feelings or at least believe that they are not morally repugnant.

For sports teams, this is even more an issue. Those teams ask the general public to pay for the pleasure of cheering on their players. That's kind of the only reason they exist. Those fans shouldn't be in a position where they're being asked to cheer for someone who is sufficiently racist to want to marry a public racist. The other players also shouldn't be put in a position where they have to play on the same team as that person.

This is doubly important for football. Although racism is an issue that every sport needs to fight, the global popularity of football means it's the sport that has been most exposed to racism. The sport has a long, sad, awful history with racist fans, racist players, racist managers, racist associations, and all the of the many and various problems that each of those can cause. Any remotely decent entity within the sport should be making conscious efforts to distance themselves as completely as possible from racism and racists. That's what's happened here, and that's one of the reasons why it was the right thing to happen.

 

[DiscoShark]

A lot of what I've read said it's unfair that he was released based on what his wife wrote but, to me, if her husband is part of a team, you're part of the team by association. You say something that makes you look bad, you make your husband look bad. Since her husband is part of the team, you make the team look bad. Thus, cutting him, to me, makes sense.

Click to shrink...

I have no pity for this dude. Didn't respond to anything until the club did officially.

Different than blood, marriage is a choice. Keep that in mind when you choose to say that you are not OK with this.

Click to shrink...

All of this sounds like victim blaming in my book. Do we blame a woman who marries a man who abuses her after they're married? Would you be comfortable if a woman was fired from her job if it was found out that the husband was molesting their children? This guy didn't sit out and try to defend his wife's actions after the fact, he condemned them and tried to distance himself from her statements. Despite this he's essentially lost his career because of actions we have no evidence that he had any part in.

It's a gross double standard that people are sitting here defending this.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

Is it ok to lip shame people who do that to their lips?

Click to shrink...

If it quacks like a duck

 

[JDSN]

Free market demands this, they should pull their boostraps and try harder.

 

[Cookie]

I refuse to believe that a non racist person would marry someone who is racist. Guilt by association is completely acceptable here. Fuck both of them.

 

[cwmartin]

All of this sounds like victim blaming in my book. Do we blame a woman who marries a man who abuses her after they're married? Would you be comfortable if a woman was fired from her job if it was found out that the husband was molesting their children? This guy didn't sit out and try to defend his wife's actions after the fact, he condemned them and tried to distance himself from her statements. Despite this he's essentially lost his career because of actions we have no evidence that he had any part in.

It's a gross double standard that people are sitting here defending this.

Click to shrink...

You're framing this entire argument around the assumption that he was completely unaware of her views and flat out racism. Which is honestly baffling because that's his, you know, WIFE.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

You dont condone what your WIFE says?

Dont famous couples you know, talk to each other or what?

Click to shrink...

I can't imagine pro athletes spend a lot of time with their family. You have to train every day. Either way, she is her own person he doesn't control her.

 

[Meauxse]

All of this sounds like victim blaming in my book. Do we blame a woman who marries a man who abuses her after they're married? Would you be comfortable if a woman was fired from her job if it was found out that the husband was molesting their children? This guy didn't sit out and try to defend his wife's actions after the fact, he condemned them and tried to distance himself from her statements. Despite this he's essentially lost his career because of actions we have no evidence that he had any part in.

It's a gross double standard that people are sitting here defending this.

Click to shrink...

No it's isn't. And it is pretty fucked that you are comparing this to spousal abuse.

This is straight racism. He didn't say shit until after the team spoke up. He was going to let it slide.

No fucking tolerance for this shit.

 

[Delicious Waffles]

All of this sounds like victim blaming in my book. Do we blame a woman who marries a man who abuses her after they're married? Would you be comfortable if a woman was fired from her job if it was found out that the husband was molesting their children? This guy didn't sit out and try to defend his wife's actions after the fact, he condemned them and tried to distance himself from her statements. Despite this he's essentially lost his career because of actions we have no evidence that he had any part in.

It's a gross double standard that people are sitting here defending this.

Click to shrink...

I didn't say he had any part of it. However, if they kept him, how do you think the Galaxy would deal with the situation moving forward? Traveling to other cities, team functions where familIes are involved, locker room culture?

 

[Tremorah]

I can't imagine pro athletes spend a lot of time with their family. You have to train every day. Either way, she is her own person he doesn't control her.

Click to shrink...

But if that person turns out to be a racist piece of shit, and once its called out, you really cant say what she thinks doesnt represent your values

Unless the whole marriage was a PR stunt and youve literally never talked to your WIFE

 

[DiscoShark]

I refuse to believe that a non racist person would marry someone who is racist. Guilt by association is completely acceptable here. Fuck both of them.

Click to shrink...

People marry terrible people all the time, you don't always know everything about the person you're marrying before you're married. We don't apply guilt by association when it comes to literally any other scenario.

You're framing this entire argument around the assumption that he was completely unaware of her views and flat out racism. Which is honestly baffling because that's his, you know, WIFE.

Click to shrink...

I understand that, in the contentious times we live in, the kneejerk reaction to what is blatant racism is scorched earth. No one is defending the wife's words or actions, but please follow the logic of your arguments to their conclusion.

Would you be comfortable with this guilt by association being applied in other scenarios? Do you believe that it is impossible for someone not to know literally everything about a person before they're married? Should, as an example, the spouse of a child molestor be held accountable if they touched their children without them knowing because "that's his, you know, WIFE."?

This isn't some unheard of scenario, people marry terrible people all the time.

 

[cwmartin]

People marry terrible people all the time, you don't always know everything about the person you're marrying before you're married. We don't apply guilt by association when it comes to literally any other scenario.


I understand that, in the contentious times we live in, the kneejerk reaction to what is blatant racism is scorched earth. No one is defending the wife's words or actions, but please follow the logic of your arguments to their conclusion.

Would you be comfortable with this guilt by association being applied in other scenarios? Do you believe that it is impossible for someone not to know literally everything about a person before they're married? Should, as an example, the spouse of a child molestor be held accountable if they touched their children without them knowing because "that's his, you know, WIFE."?

This isn't some unheard of scenario, people marry terrible people all the time.

Click to shrink...

Your expressing more concern for the husband of a racist than the systematic victims her racism harms. Please think about that before you jump into conversations to defend millionaire husband's of racists.

Knowing the character and quality of your spouse is expected. The fact that people marry terrible people doesn't change that in any universe youve created in your mind.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

But if that person turns out to be a racist piece of shit, and once its called out, you really cant say what she thinks doesnt represent your values

Unless the whole marriage was a PR stunt and youve literally never talked to your WIFE

Click to shrink...

Sure you can. A huge chunk of marriages are rushed in to or based on false pretenses. When the people are rich/celebrities it's even more the case.
There is no excusing her actions and I understand why he was let go from a strict business PR perspective but it's not fair to say yes he's a racist because someone in his family is.

 

[Juryvicious]

I refuse to believe that a non racist person would marry someone who is racist. Guilt by association is completely acceptable here. Fuck both of them.

Click to shrink...

Having been in such a situation, I got the fuck out. Accountability has to start from somewhere, fuck'em both.

 

[Cipherr]

This will be interesting to think about this weekend. Not because I have a say, but because I need to really take some time and process this.

I've known personally some decent women especially that married and the guy turned out to be total assholes over time. Abusive, gaslighting douche canoes of the highest order, and for one reason or other (financially and the kids mainly) she didn't leave the marriage right away (but did eventually). I think about them in this scenario and wonder if Im okay with this. Does their financial situation make the difference for me (this guys probably a millionaire right? whereas these ladies I speak of definitely weren't. Maybe thats makes a world of difference)?

What about the recent ERA threads where I see members here pouring out their hearts about their fathers, uncles and more being legit transformed from somewhat reasonable people into absolute red hat wearing racists after decades of consuming right wing TV and AM radio? If someone is radicalized over time like that; are we putting their spouses on the clock to finalize a separation and get out of the marriage lest their employment be at risk? And if so, is that fair?

I dunno. Ill have to think about this one. I have no give a fuck for people who hate my existence for no fucking reason but Ill have to think about how far I think its okay to punish someone for marrying into that knowingly or unknowingly. People have knowingly ignored signs of potential partners darker sides before, and doing so usually comes with a pretty fucking big set of consequences.... Maybe this is just one of the consequences folks need to consider before agreeing to marry folks /shrug

 

[ZeoVGM]

Is it ok to lip shame people who do that to their lips?

Click to shrink...

In most cases, no. I've seen a depressing amount of plastic surgery shaming on Era in the past.

But in the case where the person you're shaming is factually a racist piece of garbage?

Fair game!

 

[John Doe]

I can't imagine pro athletes spend a lot of time with their family. You have to train every day. Either way, she is her own person he doesn't control her.

Click to shrink...

They don't train every day, they don't train for 12 hours a day and every sport has an off season. Depending on the sport, pro athletes have a lot more free time than one might think.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I'm not sure about this one. To me it sorta implies a that he should have some sort of control over what his wife says and or does. Not only is that not cool, any married man knows that is impossible.

FULL FUCK HER RACISM!


I'll think about it more cause I could be straight up wrong. I'll keep reading what others are saying.

 

[EdibleKnife]

I mean you married her

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's like with George & Kellyanne Conway. Why the fuck are you two married if you fundamentally disagree on human rights, basic morality & empathy? I really can't buy the idea that someone this vitriolic completely hid that side of themselves from their spouse or that their spouse never picked up on it.

 

[Slayven]

Not the first time a player in a sport been let go because their partner was being an ass in the streets.

 

[DiscoShark]

Your expressing more concern for the husband of a racist than the systematic victims her racism harms. Please think about that before you jump into conversations to defend millionaire husband's of racists.

Knowing the character and quality of your spouse is expected. The fact that people marry terrible people doesn't change that in any universe youve created in your mind.

Click to shrink...

I'm expressing concern for people who have shown no evidence of abhorrent behavior losing their careers because of the actions of their spouse. By your logic, I assume you're okay with this guilt by association being carried over in the scenarios I highlighted. If a man robs a bank or goes on a rampage their spouse should justifiably lose their jobs because they married terrible people.

No it's isn't. And it is pretty fucked that you are comparing this to spousal abuse.

Click to shrink...

Why? The arguments being made here are centered around the husband OBVIOUSLY knowing about the racism of the wife because he wouldn't have married her otherwise but when serious character flaws come out in other scenarios we, understandably, don't immediately punish the people directly associated with them. Why do you think that is?

 

[Deleted member 4614]

You dont condone what your WIFE says?

Dont famous couples you know, talk to each other or what?

Click to shrink...

The Conways would like a word

 

[EdibleKnife]

People marry terrible people all the time, you don't always know everything about the person you're marrying before you're married. We don't apply guilt by association when it comes to literally any other scenario.


I understand that, in the contentious times we live in, the kneejerk reaction to what is blatant racism is scorched earth. No one is defending the wife's words or actions, but please follow the logic of your arguments to their conclusion.

Would you be comfortable with this guilt by association being applied in other scenarios? Do you believe that it is impossible for someone not to know literally everything about a person before they're married? Should, as an example, the spouse of a child molestor be held accountable if they touched their children without them knowing because "that's his, you know, WIFE."?

This isn't some unheard of scenario, people marry terrible people all the time.

Click to shrink...

We're talking about basic human decency here. We're talking about who deserves rights and who get denied rights. We aren't talking about crimes like molestation that people use effort to hide and which don't come up in conversation or relevance as much as peoples' outlooks on the sociopolitical landscape of their country or in the world. If she felt bold enough to put her opinions on Twitter I don't see why it shouldn't be expected that she'd be bold enough to do it in full view of her spouse.

 

[Antiax]

He's going to sue them and he is going to win, isn't he?

 

[8byte]

Kin liability should be a thing of the past. Hope he sues them.

Click to shrink...

Fair, but also a zero percent chance he isn't aware of her shit opinions, which means he either shares them, or simply doesn't care.

So in this case, who gives a shit, burn down that career.

 

[Eidan]

What grounds would he have to sue?

 

[Tremorah]

Sure you can. A huge chunk of marriages are rushed in to or based on false pretenses. When the people are rich/celebrities it's even more the case.
There is no excusing her actions and I understand why he was let go from a strict business PR perspective but it's not fair to say yes he's a racist because someone in his family is.

Click to shrink...

Its not someone tho, is it

Its your wife

Presumably you had dealings with her before you got married, exchange a sentence or two about how they view the world, you know, get to know the person a bit

Rich people are certainly in a world of their own compared to us normal folk, but to act like they literally dont talk about you know, stuff people talk about when you get know someone youre interested, is quite frankly ridiculous

Now you can absolutely not care about her views on POC, but that does actually make you a racist, which i think is the case here, and not that this just came out of the fucking woods for him