Radio-Canada has dismissed its snowboard analyst, Max Hénault, following inappropriate remarks he made about two snowboarders of Asian origin. Hénault, 42, was replaced Tuesday evening by Alexis Caron-Côté, who had officiated at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018.
Posted yesterday at 11:08 p.m.
On Sunday, when athlete Takeru Otsuka missed a maneuver in men’s slopestyle, analyst Max Hénault exclaimed enthusiastically: “Too many dumplings? Max Hénault, who coaches Olympians Maxence Parrot, Seb Toutant and Laurie Blouin, then said Takeru Otsuka’s name several times while imitating a Japanese accent.
About snowboarder Su Yiming, 17, silver medalist behind Maxence Parrot, Max Hénault said: “Wow, the little Chinese who is so impressive, new on the international scene, too. »
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
Analyst and commentator Max Hénault
Reached Tuesday evening by The Press, Max Hénault offered his apologies. “I’m a guy who is in a good mood in life, I like people, I have a lot of energy, I can sometimes make bad jokes. I don’t know why I mentioned dumplings. We were live, it was going fast. It’s not my job in life. It was a little joke, which had no place to be, I had no ulterior motive. We all make mistakes,” explained Max Hénault in a telephone interview.
“Racism doesn’t cross my mind”
Regarding his imitation of a Japanese accent, Max Hénault, who also commented on the X Games on RDS, replies: “It’s the Japanese way of pronouncing Takeru Otsuka, it really wasn’t for laugh at him,” he said.
About the “little Chinese” Su Yiming, Max Hénault denies being racist.
“I apologize to the viewers. This was in no way intended to be negative towards the athlete. Su Yiming is really small and in snowboarding, it’s an advantage to be small. The bigger you are, the more likely you are to injure yourself. I train lots of young people, I call them my little rippers, my little boys. Racism doesn’t cross my mind. I’ve traveled all over the world, I don’t watch the news,” maintains Max Hénault.
The latter does not know if Radio-Canada will seek his services again. “There were anglicisms in my lyrics and the bosses warned me at the beginning not to overdo it. And yes, I got carried away. It was my friends that I saw on the screen, ”recalls Max Hénault.
On the side of Radio-Canada, spokesperson Marc Pichette maintains that “the slopestyle snowboarding event having taken place, his contract as an analyst is over”.