Now I know who she is.
Three years after his dismissal from Hockey Night in Canada, Don Cherry — at 88, still a figure of stubborn cultural gravity — found himself at the centre of a minor public skirmish when former Hometown Hockey co-host Tara Slone called him a bigot on Twitter. The episode, rooted in Cherry's 2019 on-air remarks about immigrants and poppies, raises enduring questions about how societies remember their icons, who gets to define the terms of that memory, and what it means to be cancelled in an age when the cancelled sometimes outlast the cancellers.
- Slone's October 2022 tweet reignited a three-year-old wound, branding Cherry a bigot and demanding the public stop treating him as a hockey and political authority.
- Cherry, who had no idea who Slone was until someone reminded him she stood beside Ron MacLean, responded with the unbothered shrug of a man who has already survived the worst verdict his industry could deliver.
- The original 2019 'you people' poppy remarks — widely heard as a rebuke of immigrants — cost Cherry his 38-year platform, while his on-air partner MacLean kept his job after initially defending him.
- The irony sharpened when Hometown Hockey, Slone's own national stage, was subsequently cancelled by Sportsnet — the same network that had fired Cherry.
- Cherry now hosts a weekly podcast, still gets stopped on the street by fans asking when Coach's Corner is coming back, and has settled into the quiet confidence of someone who no longer requires institutional permission to exist.
Don Cherry was 88 years old and three years out of the most famous firing in Canadian sports broadcasting when his phone began ringing without pause one October morning in 2022. Everyone wanted the same thing: his reaction to Tara Slone, a former co-host of Sportsnet's Hometown Hockey, who had called him a bigot on Twitter. His first question was simple — who is she? Someone had to remind him she was the one always on screen with Ron MacLean.
Slone's tweet, posted October 16, was carefully worded. She said she liked Cherry as a person, that he wasn't just one thing, but that she had grown to loathe his perspective and wanted the public's nostalgic elevation of him as some kind of authority to stop. She called him a bigot unfit for national television, then in the same breath wished him good health.
The original offence dated to November 2019, when Cherry used his Coach's Corner platform to criticize people — widely understood as immigrants — for not wearing poppies before Remembrance Day. Sportsnet fired him days later. MacLean, his partner of 35 years, who had responded on air with 'that's why we love you,' later distanced himself and kept his position.
Cherry has since arrived at a settled reading of events. He believes Sportsnet was looking for any excuse to remove him and he simply handed them one. When he walks his dogs, strangers stop him to say they understood he was only reminding Canadians to honour the fallen. He pushed back on Slone's claim that he resented Hometown Hockey, saying he appeared on the show twice out of loyalty, not jealousy, and was always glad to share the spotlight with MacLean.
The fact that Hometown Hockey was itself later cancelled by Sportsnet did not go unnoticed. Cherry has moved on to a weekly podcast called Grapevine and laughed off Slone's remarks with the ease of a man who has stopped needing anyone's approval. 'She was just trying to get some publicity,' he said. 'Now I know who she is.' He offered one final warning: don't ask his wife Luba for her opinion, because she will give it to you.
Don Cherry, 88 years old and three years removed from the most famous firing in Canadian sports broadcasting history, picked up his phone one morning in October 2022 to find it ringing constantly. The callers all wanted the same thing: his reaction to Tara Slone, the former co-host of Sportsnet's Hometown Hockey, who had taken to Twitter to call him a bigot.
Cherry's first response was a question. "Who is she?" he told the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington. Someone had to remind him — she was the one always on screen with Ron MacLean. "I didn't even know who she was," Cherry said.
Slone's tweet, posted October 16, 2022, arrived three years after Cherry's dismissal from Coach's Corner and Hockey Night in Canada in November 2019. She framed it carefully, saying she liked Cherry as a person, that he "wasn't just one thing," but that she had grown to loathe his perspective over the years. She called the ongoing public affection for him — the "incessant and nostalgic elevating" of Cherry as some kind of hockey and political authority — something that needed to stop. She called him a bigot and said he had no place on national television. She also, in the same breath, said she hoped he was healthy and doing well.
The tweet that set it off was Cherry's November 2019 Coach's Corner commentary, in which he criticized people — widely understood as a reference to immigrants — for not wearing poppies ahead of Remembrance Day. "You people," he said on air, "you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price." Sportsnet fired him days later. MacLean, his on-air partner of 35 years, who had responded in the moment with "that's why we love you," later distanced himself and kept his job.
Cherry, reflecting on it now, has arrived at a settled conclusion. "The more I think of it, I believe they were just looking for one excuse to get rid of me and I gave it to them." He said that when he walks his dogs, people stop him to say they understood he was simply reminding Canadians to wear a poppy. He joked that he didn't realize at the time quite how much he'd said.
Slone also disputed Cherry's account of his relationship with Hometown Hockey, claiming he tolerated the show but was jealous of MacLean's role there, and that he viewed the program as soft and too focused on things outside hockey. Cherry pushed back directly. He said he appeared on the show twice, not out of jealousy, but to help out. He said he was happy MacLean loved the show and was always willing to share the spotlight with his longtime partner.
The irony that Slone's own national platform — Hometown Hockey — was subsequently cancelled by Rogers' Sportsnet did not go unmentioned. Her public statement after the tweet, given to The Athletic, pledged continued dedication to "inclusive and engaging stories" and pushing for equity in sport.
Cherry, for his part, has moved on to a weekly podcast called Grapevine. He still gets stopped everywhere he goes by people asking when Coach's Corner is coming back. His answer is measured: "It's a different world now." He laughed off Slone's remarks with the ease of a man who has stopped needing anyone's approval. "She was just trying to get some publicity and got her picture in the paper," he said. "I don't mind. Now I know who she is." He did add one caveat — don't ask his wife Luba for her opinion, because she will give it to you.
Citações Notáveis
The more I think of it, I believe they were just looking for one excuse to get rid of me and I gave it to them.— Don Cherry
He is a bigot and had no place on national television with a national platform. It wasn't the poppy incident, it was everything he proclaimed over three decades.— Tara Slone, via Twitter
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
What's actually happening here — is this a story about Don Cherry, or about something else?
It's about what happens to a cultural figure after the moment of cancellation. Cherry is three years out, still drawing crowds on his dog walks, still trending on Twitter. The story is about whether the verdict ever really sticks.
Slone said she liked him as a person but loathed his perspective. Is that a meaningful distinction?
It's the kind of distinction people make when they want to land a punch without looking like they're throwing one. Cherry noticed. His response was essentially: I didn't know who you were.
MacLean comes off badly in this telling. Is that fair?
Cherry spent 35 years beside him and watched him stay quiet in the moment, then step away afterward. Whether that's survival instinct or betrayal depends on what you think loyalty requires.
Cherry says they were looking for an excuse to fire him. Does the evidence support that?
He can't prove it, and he knows it. But the poppy comment was the trigger, not the cause — that much he seems to believe completely.
Why does Cherry still trend on Twitter three years later?
Because the people who wanted him gone and the people who wanted him to stay are both still arguing. He's become a proxy for a larger fight about who gets to define Canadian identity.
Is Cherry bitter?
He says no, and he sounds like he means it. The line about his wife Luba — that she'd give you her opinion if you asked — suggests the bitterness lives somewhere in the house, just not in him.