The Harlem Globetrotters are world-famous for performing magical tricks with a basketball. However, one member said two Alabama broadcasters went a little too far on live television when they tossed tangerines and a banana at him.
Maxwell Pearce, known as Hops Pearce on the traveling basketball troupe, said the fruit was tossed at him during a 36-second span on “Good Day Alabama,” WPMI reported.
Pearce told CNN he was not sure who threw the second tangerine at him, but added he could clearly see the banana was thrown from an anchor off-set.
On Saturday, Pearce released clips of the incident, which occurred in January on Birmingham television affiliate WRBC.
Pearce’s manager, Andrea Price, said they wanted anchor Clare Huddleston and weather forecaster Mickey Ferguson, who were featured in the clip with the player, “to issue the broadcast apology themselves.”
This did not happen,” Price told AL.com.
Anchor Mike Dubberly is shown standing next to Pearce and laughing during the video, AL.com reported.
“Throwing fruit at me diminishes the Naismith Hall of Fame legacy of the Harlem Globetrotters to that of a circus,” Pearce said in his video, which was posted to his YouTube account. “But throwing a banana at a Black man and passing it off as entertainment displays an unacceptable lack of awareness. And quite frankly, I’m having a very difficult time understanding how someone could work in the media field and not know this is offensive.”
Pearce said that in February, WBRC proposed “that I should call them to receive an apology.”
“And rather than appearing combative and ruffling the feathers with my job, I stood down, knowing that I wasn’t satisfied,” Pearce said. “And with all the shame and disappointment in myself for not saying anything sooner, I have to own that.”
Pearce said his hesitation evaporated after the deaths this year of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
“Whether the disrespect (by the anchors) was intentional or not, it doesn’t lessen the damage that was caused,” Pearce said during the video. “This carries deep racial undertones that date back to the early 1900s when black people were held in display in human zoos.”
In a statement to AL.com, WBRC News Director Shannon Isbell apologized to Pearce.
“WBRC Fox6 would like to take this opportunity to again extend a heartfelt and sincere apology to Globetrotter Max Pearce,” Isbell said in the statement. “An on-air segment promoting a Globetrotters event with Mr. Pearce months ago was intended to be lighthearted. However, it became something deeply hurtful to our guest as the result of our lack of understanding. We are grateful for the several enlightening, educational conversations we have had with Max over the last two months. I was happy to have him on our show about racial inequality and faith that aired last Friday.”
In an interview with CNN, Pearce said he was “shocked” after catching the banana and that he felt “utter disgust.”
“I couldn’t tell whether it was reality or not because I was in such disbelief this could happen on a live television segment,” Pearce told the network.
Pearce told CNN that while WBRC issued an apology he has not heard nor received a direct apology from the anchors and “at this point it’s not going to be sincere to me.”