Cubs Co-Owner Tom Ricketts Apologizes For All The Racist Emails In His Dad's Inbox

Yesterday, our colleagues at Splinter published a collection of insanely racist emails from the inbox of Joe Ricketts, the billionaire patriarch of the Ricketts family, which currently owns the Chicago Cubs. Found in these emails is Joe Ricketts expressing his appreciation for plainly racist jokes and holding forth on the scourge of Islam. In one email, Ricketts wrote, “...we cannot ever let Islam become a large part of our society. Muslims are naturally my (our) enemy due to their deep antagonism and bias against non-Muslims.”

After Splinter’s story ran, Joe’s son, Tom, apologized for his father’s emails while simultaneously trying to distance Joe from the Cubs. Here is Tom’s statement, from ESPN:

“We are aware of the racially insensitive emails in my father’s account that were published by an online media outlet,” Tom Ricketts said in a statement Monday. “Let me be clear: The language and views expressed in those emails have no place in our society.

“My father is not involved with the operation of the Chicago Cubs in any way. I am trusted with representing this organization and our fans with a respect for people from all backgrounds. These emails do not reflect the culture we’ve worked so hard to build at the Chicago Cubs since 2009.”

Joe himself released an apologetic statement on his own website yesterday, after Splinter published the emails.