As another high-profile owner of a professional sports team, the Dallas Mavericks‘ Mark Cuban has this advice for Washington’s Dan Snyder: Accept your mistakes.
Cuban was responding to Thursday’s report in The Washington Post in which 15 women made allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace culture from 2006 to 2019. On his SiriusXM Radio show, the Mavericks owner made a public call for Snyder and his top staffers to show accountability for what has happened.
“If you know Dan Snyder, if you’re involved with the Redskins, if you connect to them, tell Dan and tell his senior management you’ve got to just recognize what you did right and what you did wrong,” Cuban said. “You have to accept the mistakes you made. That’s painful. I made a lot of mistakes. And that’s the only way this is going to get resolved.”
In February 2018, Sports Illustrated reported on “a corporate culture rife with misogyny and predatory sexual behavior” that spanned decades in the Mavericks’ organization, including numerous allegations against former CEO and president Terdema Ussery, who left the team in 2015.
Cuban issued public apologies and agreed to contribute $10 million to women’s organizations. He did not face discipline from the NBA, which investigated the allegations and said Cuban did not pay enough attention to the business culture within his organization.
Snyder responded to the Post story twice Friday, first in a statement and then in a letter to Washington employees, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In the letter, the Snyders apologized on behalf of the team and asked for everybody’s help “to build a better organizational culture.”
“We need to get better and the time is now,” the letter from the Snyders said.
Snyder has hired Washington, D.C., law firm Wilkinson Walsh to conduct an independent review of team policies, culture and allegations of workplace misconduct. The NFL said in a statement that it will meet with lawyers after the investigation is complete and will act based on the findings.
On his radio show Friday, Cuban reflected on when he first heard about the allegations against his team.
“Literally, I started crying,” Cuban said. “I was so upset.”