Dear Brewbound Readers and Podcast Listeners —
During episode 44 of the Brewbound Podcast, I introduced and facilitated a conversation with my co-host, Justin Kendall, that was inappropriate misguided and had no place on the show.
First and foremost, I owe everyone involved a sincere apology.
To the individuals I named in the segment, the author of the piece we discussed, our featured interviewee, and my hard-working colleagues at BevNET, I’m sorry. The conversation I led was in poor taste and is not in line with the type of content I’ve worked to create over the last 8.5 years.
As Justin described in his own note, the discussion lacked the kind of research our readers and listeners have come to expect from us over the years. But even worse, I unfairly stereotyped and made generalizations about a group of individuals who have clearly earned the right to be recognized.
The women I mentioned — One Hoppy Lady, Bigwrldsmallgrl, Beer Bitty, and Is Beer a Carb – and the others on the list are important contributors to the beer industry, be it through brewing, photographing, blogging or otherwise. I should not have belittled their work, or diminished their accomplishments, and I should have taken more time to learn about these individuals before foolishly and sloppily speculating on the reasons for their inclusion in the piece.
And while I appreciate Justin stepping up to apologize for his role, I think it’s important for everyone to understand that the decision to talk about the article was mine — not his. I brought it up during what we call the opening “banter” segment of the show and neglected to prepare him beforehand. This left him in an unenviable position of following my lead on the fly, and it should not reflect negatively on the incredible work he does to report on the business of beer every day.
The comments I made were out of line and demonstrated a complete lapse in judgment. I am embarrassed and feel ashamed that I’ve let down a company that has supported me and an industry that has embraced my work for nearly a decade. The criticisms I’ve received online over the last few days are entirely deserved and have not gone unnoticed.
I understand an apology is just a starting point. My comments were uncalled for, and don’t reflect the type of person I strive to be, nor do they represent the views of Brewbound and our parent company, BevNET.
Nevertheless, I am hopeful that over time I can continue to contribute to Brewbound in a positive way and begin earning back some of the respect that our audience had for the platform prior to the airing of this episode.
In the meantime, I am going to continue my self-reflection and will be listening to everyone’s feedback, especially those I hurt and marginalized along the way.
Sincerely,
Chris Furnari
Note: Chris Furnari is the former editor of Brewbound.