For those who may not have been paying attention, a somewhat bitter conflict has arisen between two of the game’s biggest names. In a recent interview (parts of which were thought to be “off the record”), Team PokerStars member Daniel Negreanu blasted away at top female pro Annie Duke, labeling her as a “fucking cunt.”
As you can imagine, this set off alarms all across the poker landscape. Negreanu’s comments came as a result of Duke claiming to be “the best female poker player in the world,” while at the same time arguing that such gender distinctions have no place in society. While her words do indeed amount to a contradiction, it’s hardly surprising. Duke doesn’t exactly have the reputation of getting along with everyone. Even so, Negreanu’s comments have come as something of a shock.
In response to a letter written by an offended fan, PokerStars had this to say about the situation:
“Although Daniel Negreanu is a Team PokerStarsPro, he is an entity to himself and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his mind as he would otherwise do so, PokerStars Pro or not.”
Duke fired back in an open letter to PokerStars:
“I am not offended by Daniel’s opinion. He has a right to disagree with me and dislike me. And I, just like PokerStars, would encourage him to express his views and opinions. This is not about his views. It is about a particular word he chose to express those views. The word “c**t” is not an opinion, it is an abusive epithet, and PokerStars is completely ignoring the use of that term in their response.
“But more distressing is the use of the word encouraged here. So, PokerStars, you are encouraging Daniel to continue to express views in this manner, to conduct these public attacks using offensive slurs and inappropriate language? I am more than dismayed that PokerStars is making a statement here that they encourage this kind of behavior, this kind of language use. According to PokerStars, this kind of behavior enriches our community.”
So what do you guys think? Who’s to blame here? Duke, Negreanu, PokerStars, or the sensationalist reporter who decided to print off-the-record comments?