UPDATED 1/19, 9:30 a.m. ET: Jared Porter has been fired from his position of general manager of the New York Mets for allegedly sending graphic images to a female reporter in 2016.
Mets owner Steven Cohen shared the news on Tuesday morning, tweeting, “We have terminated Jared Porter this morning. In my initial press conference I spoke about the importance of integrity and I meant it. There should be zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
Mets president Sandy Alderson also released a state on Tuesday, per CNN: “The New York Mets have terminated General Manager Jared Porter, effective immediately. Jared's actions, as reflected by events disclosed last night, failed to meet the Mets' standards for professionalism and personal conduct.”
See original story below.
New York Mets general manager Jared Porter has admitted to sending unwanted explicit photos to a foreign correspondent covering Major League Baseball in 2016, ESPN's Mina Kimes and Jeff Passan report.
Speaking to ESPN, the woman said she ignored over 60 texts from Porter, who worked for the Chicago Cubs as director of professional scouting at the time, before he proceeded to send a photo of an exposed and erect penis. He apologized after the woman responded to the picture by saying his decision to send the picture was "extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line."
The now-41-year-old Porter and the woman met in June of 2016 in an elevator at NYC's Yankee Stadium and spoke briefly. After their short exchange they swapped business cards. The woman told ESPN that it was the only time they spoke in person. The two later talked via text but the woman eventually stopped answering after Porter sent a photo of his groin area that featured a bulge.
Porter, who was hired by the Mets for the GM role back on Dec. 13, responded to questions from ESPN about the incident, saying that the photo of the naked penis he sent to the woman was not his but instead "kinda like joke-stock images."
ESPN was first made aware of the situation in 2017 but decided against reporting on it after speaking with the woman. The reporter, who has since exited the field of journalism, previously expressed fears that the story going public could hurt her career. She has now decided to come forward with her story.
"My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else," the woman, who has decided to stay anonymous, told ESPN via an interpreter. "Obviously he's in a much greater position of power. I want to prevent that from happening again. The other thing is I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry.
"I know in the U.S. there is a women's empowerment movement. But in [my home country], it's still far behind," she continued. "Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal. Women are the ones who get fingers pointed at them. I don't want to go through the victimization process again. I don't want other people to blame me."
Mets president Sandy Alderson released a statement regarding the news and said that he's spoke with Porter.
"Jared has acknowledged to me his serious error in judgement, has taken responsibility for his conduct, has expressed remorse and has previously apologized for his actions. The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees and certainly do not condone the conduct described … We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."
