Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams is in the spotlight again — but this time, not for what he said, but for what he wasn’t given the chance to say.
The Athletic is reporting that an executive for the team was fired after the release of a recording that said Williams, a devout Catholic, was kept off the team’s social media deliberately. There were also other revelations about the organization’s “efforts to placate President Trump,” the report said.
The recording was released on social media by the O’Keefe Media group, founded by James O’Keefe, best known for his work with Project Veritas.
The Athletic identified the executive as Sean Hudson, the Nationals’ director of community relations. Its report said that Jason Sinnarajah, the Nationals’ president of business operations, had apologized to Williams.
“We feel awful that he has been dragged into this situation, and hope this hasn’t been a distraction as he gets ready to get back on the field, which we’re excited to have him back on,” Sinnarajah said, per The Athletic.
The organization has denied that any formal directive keeping Williams off social media had been issued.
Williams, whose faith and family have been widely written about, was in the news three years ago after taking a stand when the Los Angeles Dodgers honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a controversial LGBTQ advocacy group, at a Pride Month event.
At the time, he posted a statement on X that said in part, “To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles County alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization.”
Williams hasn’t posted to that account since 2023.
In the video O’Keefe posted to X, Hudson also talked about inviting Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to games.
“We are trying to use baseball to make money. And a lot of that is defense contracts, the Palantirs of the world. We are essentially like, ‘Look at all the Americana hoorah stuff you can do at Nats Park. Give us $2 million.”
In a statement provided to The Athletic after the release of the video, the Nationals acknowledged the comments and said they were “recorded without the employee’s knowledge and disseminated without his permission.”
“The statements are not only factually incorrect, but do not reflect the views, opinions or actions of the Washington Nationals,” the statement said.