After his words posted on social media got him in some big trouble, Florida Panthers executive Douglas Cifu has broken his silence following his suspension by the NHL.
Cifu, the team’s vice chairman, partner and alternate governor, appeared to have made several disturbing comments on social media Sunday night after watching his team defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of their NHL playoff series.
The post on social media site X appeared to take shots at a Leafs fan and Canada in general, while commenting on the conflict between Israel and Palestine in screenshots taken of posts that have now been made private.
WARNING: Vulgar language
“Eat s*** 51st state anti-semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until ever (sic) last Hamas rat is eliminated,” the X account allegedly belonging to Cifu posted.
On Tuesday, Cifu apologized for his “regrettable” comments in a statement to Florida Hockey Now.
“Two days ago, I posted regrettable and inflammatory comments on social media,” Cifu said in the statement. “My behavior does not reflect the standards of the Florida Panthers organization and the Viola family.
“I sincerely apologize to all those affected by my comments. I am committed to working with the NHL to amend my actions.”
When the Panthers organization was asked for comment by an ESPN NHL reporter, the team directed him to Cifu’s statement.
Cifu’s viral post was a reply to @mrgrozz, a Toronto sports fan account that has bragged about trolling sports team owners in the past.
In the original post which has been reposted as a screenshot, Dr. Grizzo compared the controversial hits by the NHL team to the ongoing conflict in the middle east.
“Hey what’s worse, using headshots to win a series or using starvation as a weapon to win a war?” the post on X read.
Cifu allegedly replied, writing: “Actually being a whiny dope anti semite is clearly worse. Loser.”
“Not approving of using starvation as a weapon makes me a bigot? Got it,” Dr. Grizzo replied. “Get some sleep man, market opens early tomorrow. Best of luck frontrunning Robinhood traders you MAGA d*** licker.”
After the exchange, the account appearing to belong to Cifu went private and was deactivated Monday evening.
The NHL came hard down on Cifu on Monday night, suspending him indefinitely from any and all involvement with the team and the league.
“The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate. As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the club and the NHL,” the league said in a statement to Postmedia. “An in-person meeting will be scheduled with Mr. Cifu and the commissioner at a date to be determined.”
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The bio for the account with the handle @Dougielarge read “Partner Cup Champ Florida Panthers and CEO of Virtu Financial (VIRT). Shill Team 6 Leader. All tweets mine.”
This is followed by the word “Israel” and five Israel flag emojis.
This is not the first time that Cifu has seemingly been caught making disparaging comments online.
In a post from the same account on X, Cifu allegedly made disparaging comments about a user by calling them a “sad creepy loser” and inferring they are “special needs.”
“Dude get a life,” the post from March 2024 appears to begin, as shown in a screenshot.
“You sad sack of s***. I’d call your pathetic school district and let them know what a sad creepy loser you are but I’m sure you’re special needs and part of a protected class.
“Enjoy your poverty. Dumb f***.”
According to the Panthers team website, Cifu also is the CEO of Virtu Financial, which the site boasts is “one of the nation’s foremost providers of financial technology products and services.”
Cifu co-founded Virtu with Panthers owner Vincent J. Viola in 2008.