WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Fitness network CrossFit's founder and CEO Greg Glassman decided to step down following the controversy created by his tweet about George Floyd and coronavirus pandemic. Dave Castro, director of CrossFit Games has been appointed as the company's new chief executive.
Glassman tweeted 'It's FLOYD-19', rhyming with 'Covid-19', while responding to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington that called racism and discrimination as critical public health issues that demand an urgent response.
The tweets referred to Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer. The death sparked widespread outrage and protests in Minneapolis and across the U.S.
He also tweeted, 'Your failed model quarantined us and now you're going to model a solution to racism? George Floyd's brutal murder sparked riots nationally. Quarantine alone is accompanied in every age and under all political regimes by an undercurrent of suspicion, distrust, and riots.'
Glassman later apologized, noting that his choice of words was not racist but a mistake.
However, CrossFit's affiliates and partners took the matter as offensive and many of them decided to end the relationships with the company in support of the campaign BlackLivesMatter. Sports footwear and apparel company Reebok International Limited, affiliated to Germany's Adidas, decided to end its longtime partnership with CrossFit after fulfilling its current obligation as title sponsor for the 2020 CrossFit Games. The network of gyms also lost partnerships and business with hundreds of affiliated gyms.
Conveying his decision to retire, Glassman said he created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members, but that his sole issue was the chronic disease epidemic.
'I know that CrossFit is the solution to this epidemic and that CrossFit HQ and its staff serve as the stewards of CrossFit affiliates worldwide. I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ's or affiliates' missions. They are too important to jeopardize,' he added.
In a a letter titled 'Why didn't CrossFit just say something?', CrossFit also apologized for the incidents, noting that Greg's statements were incredibly insensitive and hurtful.
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