Ronan Tynan, the Irish tenor who sings “God Bless America” at many important Yankees games, was supposed to perform the song tonight, since Game 1 of the ALCS would certainly qualify as an important Yankees game. But the team has cancelled his appearance because of a Tynan joke-gone-bad that offended a Jewish doctor.
From the Daily News:
The trouble started when Tynan, 49, bumped into a real estate agent showing an apartment in his East Side apartment building to a doctor from NYU Medical Center.
The agent told Tynan, “Don’t worry, they are not Red Sox fans,” according to apartment-hunter Gabrielle Gold-von Simson.
“I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish,” was Tynan’s reply.
Yikes. You’d think Tynan would know that intolerance is only funny when it applies to Red Sox Nation. Tynan’s since apologized, telling NBC New York, “I would never want to hurt anybody’s feelings. It was stupid of me to be so callous.” Still, though: yikes.
Ronan Tynan’s tongue causes trouble as Yankees sack Irish tenor’s appearance [NYDN]
EXCLUSIVE: Yanks Bench Tenor After Jewish “Joke” [NBC New York]