A major Canadian newspaper is rejecting a demand from the Ottawa Senators to take down a secretly recorded video showing several players badmouthing the team’s coaching staff.
The Ottawa Citizen says the video, recorded by an Uber driver in Phoenix, Ariz., was circulating on social media when the paper chose to report on it and share it to its website.
Lawyers representing the team sent a letter to the paper today claiming the contents of the video did not contain any information of “genuine public interest” and violated the players’ privacy under Ontario law.
The paper’s editor-in-chief, Michelle Richardson, says there is public interest in the Senators that extends beyond the team’s on-ice performance.
The lawyers’ letter demands that the Citizen remove the video from its site.
Senators Chief Operating Officer Nicolas Ruszkowski says the team wants to ensure that people’s reputations are not “impaired by voyeuristic journalism.”
Related: Senators players apologize after being caught criticizing team on video recording
The Canadian Press
