Joe Ricketts, the patriarch of the Chicago Cubs’ family ownership, has found himself in hot water this week after a number of emails involving racist jokes were leaked by splinternews.com on Monday.
In the emails, which go back several years, Ricketts appears to rail against Muslims, promote conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama and laugh at jokes which include punchlines about racial slurs and the deaths of people of color.
In a 2012 email to a family friend, the Cubs owner and the founder of TD Ameritrade replied that “Islam is a cult and not a religion. Christianity and Judaism are based on love, whereas Islam is based on ‘kill the infidel,’ a thing of evil.”
Ricketts forwards articles to acquaintances in other emails that claim Obama is suppressing a video in which he verbally admits to being a Muslim and that Obama has a secret past as a gay sex worker and drug mule.
Ricketts, 77, apologized for the emails on Monday.
“I deeply regret and apologize for some of the exchanges I had in my emails,” he said in a statement. “Sometimes I received emails that I should have condemned. Other times I’ve said things that don’t reflect my value system. I strongly believe that bigoted ideas are wrong.”
