West Wilson is a reality TV star of late. But he is a sports reporter by trade. And the sophomore Summer House star reveals how a poor choice of words got him banned from covering any hockey events in the near future.
Ciara Miller would argue that West does not have a way with words. And it turns out that his clumsy verbiage got him in a lot of trouble with Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL.
Summer House star West Wilson explains his NHL ban
“When I was at Bleacher, we’re owned by Turner. And Turner bought NHL rights. So they put Gary Bettman on. I was like bored and I was like, ‘I’m gonna ask a question, like why not?’ And I was like ‘Hi Mr. Bettman, I’m West from Bleacher Report, where does hockey stand moving forward with the increased media coverage head safety and protecting players?'” West explained while on a recent episode of Meg On The Mic podcast.
The Summer House star continued, “But when I asked the question I said the word ‘violent’ I think twice. Turns out, huge trigger word, for the NHL. So ‘physical’ is what they want to promote. But if you call it ‘violent’ no it’s not ‘violent.’
According to the Bravolebrity, Gary was not thrilled with the question. The NHL commissioner told West, “He goes, ‘Hockey is not violent. It’ssphysical. I guess we need to teach people at Bleacher Report more about hockey you guys don’t know anything.’
“So he embarrassed me in front of everyone,” West lamented. “And then, my boss’ boss’ boss called me and was like, ‘Dude the NHL is so mad at us. We have to pull you from every hockey game you’re like slated for for the rest of the year.’
It almost seems like West should have known the trigger word. But after being temporarily pulled, he was allowed in to work when he was the only reporter available.
“So they had no one to cover game 5 or game 6. Tampa, Colorado AVS. They asked the NHL for permission, like ‘We have to send West, we don’t have anyone else,'” West explained of getting permission to return.
He continued, “The AVS won. And I’m on the ice, like covering the celebration. And I had someone take a picture of me on the ice and I tagged Gary Bettman, like above my head. Yeah I know it’s my fault. And then so, an hour later, HR was like, ‘Are you an idiot?'”
West doubled-down and got himself banned again
However, a cheeky tag had the Summer House star banned again. West thought it had all blown over until he ran into further difficulties.
“So then I thought it was over, until six months ago,” West said. “The Blues hit me up and were like, ‘Hey we’re sending out our care packages for the winter classic. Turns out, someone from NHL saw my name on their list. And he goes, “Remove him, he’s not a friend of the NHL.'”
Just for context, this transpired over the course of “three years,” according to West. He had choice word for Gary Bettman to conclude his podcast interview.
“I think Gary Bettman is a cry baby. And now they told the Blues to take my name off, so the war’s back on,” he stated.
As for his personal life, West stays very tight-lipped about what is going on with his romances these days. It’s a trend he started while filming Summer House Season 9 to stay under Ciara’s radar. But as luck would have it, the professional model is fine to treat him with cool cordiality at this point.
Catch Summer House Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo and on Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
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