CINCINNATI - Pete Rose has lost his FOX Sports gig after admitting he had a sexual relationship with a teen in 1970s, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
FOX had announced plans to have Rose return as analyst during its postseason baseball telecasts. But that was before Rose’s admission in a court filing as part of a defamation lawsuit he filed against attorney John Dowd.
Dowd, whose 1989 investigation into Rose’s baseball betting led to Rose’s permanent ban from the game, accused Rose in a 2015 radio interview of bringing girls as young as 12 to spring training in Florida for sex when he was playing with the Reds.
Dowd's response to the suit includes a sworn statement by a woman alleging that Rose had a relationship with her for several years, beginning before she turned 16, the age of consent in Ohio.
Rose acknowledged that he had sex with the woman but thought she was 16. Rose would have been 34 then and married with two children.
FOX Sports had no comment, the Hollywood Reporter said.
Rose's admission led the Phillies to cancel a planned ceremony to add him to their Wall of Fame this summer. The Phillies said they would destroy thousands of Rose bobbleheads they planned to distribute during their Wall of Fame weekend.
