The Carolina Panthers quarterback said it was "funny" to hear Jourdan Rodrigue talk about routes.
There is fresh fallout for Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton after an exchange with a female sportswriter that many have viewed as sexist.
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The controversy began Wednesday when reporter Jourdan Rodrigue of The Charlotte Observer asked about the “routes” Newton used in practice earlier in the day.
“It's just so funny to hear a female talk about routes,” he said, laughing. “It just is.”
The room fell dead silent and the reporter admitted she was taken aback by the response.
"This afternoon, I did my job as an NFL beat writer and asked Cam Newton a question about one of his receivers," she said in a statement to the NFL Network. "I was dismayed at his response, which not only belittled me but countless other women before me and beside me who work in similar jobs."
In new blowback over his remarks, Dannon yogurt has severed ties with Newton as of Thursday.
"We are shocked and disheartened at the behavior and comments of Cam Newton towards Jourdan Rodrigue, which we perceive as sexist and disparaging to all women," Dannon said in a statement to ESPN reporter Darren Rovell.
The NFL is taking the controversy seriously, as women comprise close to 50 percent of its fan base.
"The comments are just plain wrong and disrespectful to the exceptional female reporters and all journalists,” the NFL said in a statement.
The reporter is also coming under scrutiny of her own, as internet sleuths have found that she has retweeted her father's jokes, which many would consider racist, years ago.
"I apologize for the offensive tweets from my twitter account from 4/5 years ago,” she said. “There is no excuse for these tweets and the sentiment behind them. I am deeply sorry and apologize."
