PD's Tony Grossi Removed from Browns Beat After Twitter Remark About Randy Lerner

Photo: Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer

Tony Grossi, a longtime Browns beat writer for the Plain Dealer, posted an insulting message about Browns owner Randy Lerner on Twitter. That single message has gotten him removed from the beat, although it's not clear if it was at the suggestion of the Browns, Lerner, or simply the PD being proactive.

Grossi wrote on Twitter:

"He is a pathetic figure, the most irrelevant billionaire in the world."

The offensive tweet was later deleted.

As it turns out, despite what Grossi thinks, Lerner is at least relevant enough to influence his work assignments.

The Plain Dealer addressed the tweet on its website, cleveland.com, last week, stating:

"Last night, Plain Dealer Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi made an inadvertent, inappropriate post to Twitter concerning Browns owner Randy Lerner. Grossi has reached out to Lerner to apologize. The Plain Dealer also apologizes.”

In addition, Grossi discussed the unfortunate situation in a video podcast. He said:

“Last night there was a comment attributed to me on my Twitter account. It was inadvertent, it was inappropriate, and I do apologize for it. I’ve reached out to Randy Lerner to apologize to him for it and we’ll just leave it at that. It was inappropriate and not meant to be tweeted, but it was inappropriate nonetheless.”

It has not been explained how the message was posted on Grossi's account, but it seems as though it may have been an instance of him not knowing how to properly use the "direct message" feature on the social networking site.