Profane response to an anti-Trump journalist costs Long Beach City College football coach his job
Long Beach City College football coach Brett Peabody has agreed to resign following backlash from a profane direct message he sent to an online publisher who is critical of President Trump.
On the day of Trump's inauguration in January, Peabody sent a private message to Aaron Rupar, who has nearly 1 million followers on X. Rupar, in turn, made the message public.
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'You're done you sorry fascist scumbag, hope you get held accountable for the bulls— that yiu e spread. Justice is in the horizon kiddo,' Peabody's direct message read. He then added "you've*" to correct his own typo.
Rupar shared the message on his X account and added, 'I get lots of threatening DMs but I usually don't get them from head coaches of college football programs.' That post has been viewed 1.2 million times and reposted by 4,200 users as of Wednesday.
Read more: USC athletics eliminates a dozen jobs as it manages new revenue sharing expenses
Records obtained by the Long Beach Post show that Peabody has agreed to resign. Emails the Post obtained indicate Peabody was placed on paid administrative leave in February and a month later he agreed to resign at the end of the year.
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Peabody will remain on paid leave through December and will be paid a six-month severance of approximately $60,000, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Post.
Marques Cooper was named LBCC acting head coach in March. Cooper had been the defensive coordinator and has been an assistant coach at Azusa Pacific, El Camino College and Santa Monica City College.
Peabody told the Long Beach Post in January that sending the message to Rupar was "dumb" and 'was clearly not the best decision.' He apologized to LBCC, saying the tone of the post was "harsh and regrettable,'
'It was not a threat in any way, shape or form,' Peabody said. 'If you read it, I'm not sure how it could be construed as a threat. … I'd like to see journalists held at a higher standard.'
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Read more: Stephen Miller finally gets his revenge on L.A.
A petition to reinstate Peabody that was posted on change.org by LBCC players and associates of Peabody has 68 signatures. "Throughout his tenure with us, [Peabody] has demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, and a true, burning passion for helping athletes develop both their skills and character," the petition reads.
Peabody took over as head coach at LBCC in 2013, leading the Vikings to conference titles and bowl wins in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Previously, he was head coach and an assistant at L.A. Harbor College and head coach at South High School in Torrance.
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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