The 81-year-old controversial baseball legend lands in hot water after he declined to address the issue during a ceremony to celebrate the 1980 world champions.
- Aug 8, 2022
AceShowbiz - Pete Rose is facing heavy backlash again. The controversial baseball legend has been slammed on social media after he wasn't willing to talk about allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a minor decades ago.
On Sunday, August 7, the 81-year-old former baseball star attended a ceremony to celebrate the 1980 world champions at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. As he was talking to the media, he got into a tiff with a female reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer over questions about the organization scrapping plans to honor him in 2017 because of a woman's claim she had a sexual relationship with him when she was a minor.
"No, I'm not here to talk about that. Sorry about that," Pete told Alex Coffey. The 17-time All-Star, who was banned from baseball in 1989 for gambling on the sport from 1985-1987, further said, "It was 55 years ago, babe." Despite his scandals, he was still honored by the Phillies in 2017. He was also inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame.
After Sunday's ceremony honoring the 1980 team, the Associated Press asked Pete about his interaction with Alex. "I'm going to tell you one more time. I'm here for the Philly fans. I'm here for my teammates. I'm here for the Phillies organization," he said, "And who cares what happened 50 years ago. You weren't even born. So you shouldn't be talking about it, because you weren't born. If you don't know a damn thing about it, don't talk about it."
Upon learning of Pete's reaction, critics were quick to share their thoughts on Twitter, with one person branding him "a cheat and a sexual predator." A second wrote, "Is this real? Pete Rose raped that girl!!!" Another simply said, "Ok groomers." Someone else asked, "Did he tell the story about when he raped a 14-year-old and said it was OK because he thought she was 16?"
Previously, the Phillies defended their decision to invite Pete to the ceremony. "In planning the 1980 reunion, we consulted with Pete's teammates about his inclusion," the team said in a statement, "Everyone wants Pete to be part of the festivities since there would be no trophy in 1980 without him. In addition, the club received permission from the Commissioner's Office to invite Pete as a member of the championship team."
