SeaWorld has released a 5-year-old video of one of their former trainers, John Hargrove, “drinking and repeatedly using a racial epithet during a recorded cellphone conversation.” They also said that Hargrove “quit after being disciplined for a severe safety violation involving the park’s killer whales.”
Last week, Hargrove released his book, “Beneath the Surface,” that was very critical of the company. In the book, Hargrove discusses his career at SeaWorld’s Texas and California parks and how he came to believe that whales should not be in captivity. Hargrove appeared in the controversial documentary Blackfish speaking out against the park’s alleged treatment of the animals.
Hargrove says that SeaWorld is trying to make him look bad and that they aren’t telling the true story of his departure from the company. “They’re going to pull out everything they can, drag up any dirt they can on me to make me look like this awful person. What’s so amazing, they’re not addressing the issues at hand. This is about killer whales in captivity.”
Fred Jacobs, SeaWorld spokesman, said an internal whistle-blower sent the video to the company. It shows Hargrove sitting at a table with a glass of wine, talking on a cellphone saying, “I’ve been drinking so much,” and laughing about a group of black men throwing a rock at the woman he is speaking to on the phone. He repeatedly refers to the men by using the n-word and attempts to get the woman to say she did the same.
Jacobs said, “We are offended by John’s behavior and language. The video is particularly reprehensible since John Hargrove is wearing a SeaWorld shirt. SeaWorld would have terminated Hargrove’s employment immediately had we known he engaged in this kind of behavior.”
Hargrove responded, stating that he did not remember the conversation and that he hadn’t seen the video. “These are all just personal attacks to try to slander me and my character. This is so typical of SeaWorld. If they’re going to pull up videos and say he was drunk one night and used a derogatory word…these are petty, childish attempts to discredit somebody.”
He says their claims about how he was terminated are false. Hargrove says that no safety rules were violated and that another employee did not lock a gate at Shamu Stadium, so he made his colleague aware of the incident, then informed a supervisor the next day. He says SeaWorld wanted to move him to the sea-lion stadium as punishment for waiting a day to let a supervisor know. He went on medical leave for knee injuries immediately after and then quit.
News source: Orlando Sentinel
Photo credit: SeaWorld
