The Washington Nationals have dismissed their director of community relations and apologised to Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams after an undercover video showed the executive saying that the team limited Williams’s promotional use because of his public defence of the Catholic Faith.
Sean Hudson was removed from his post after footage released by O’Keefe Media Group on May 26 gained widespread attention. The video appeared to show Hudson discussing Williams, a practising Catholic who had criticised the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2023 decision to honour the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag activist group whose performances have been condemned by Catholics as mocking nuns, the Mass and sacred imagery.
In the footage, Hudson described Williams as “super Christian-Catholic” and appeared to say that the Nationals did not use him in social media content because of his stance. According to the video, Hudson said: “Because of that, we don’t use him on social [media].”
The Nationals denied that the comments reflected the club’s conduct or views. In a statement reported after the video was released, the club said it was “aware of comments made by an employee which were recorded without the employee’s knowledge and disseminated without his permission”. It added: “The statements are not only factually incorrect, but do not reflect the views, opinions, or actions of the Washington Nationals.”
The team also denied allegations that it had tracked players’ search history or deliberately hidden players from promotional material.
Club president of business operations Jason Sinnarajah later said that the comments did not reflect the organisation or its values and confirmed that Hudson was no longer employed by the team. He also apologised directly to Williams, saying that the club felt “awful” that the pitcher had been drawn into the controversy.
Williams, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, has not issued a detailed public statement on the matter. He responded light-heartedly on Instagram, according to reports.
In 2023, after the Dodgers controversy, Williams invited women Religious to a “Ladies Night” at Nationals Park. He had previously criticised the Dodgers’ decision to honour the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, saying: “We cannot stand idly by while Our Lord gets mocked.”
The incident has prompted action from Catholic advocacy groups. CatholicVote said it had sent formal letters to the Nationals and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division following reports that Williams had been excluded from official team social media content because of his Catholic faith.
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert also urged the Department of Justice to investigate the Nationals for potential religious discrimination.
The controversy centres in part on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that describes itself as an order of “queer nuns” and has a history of provocative performances using Catholic imagery. Its 2023 “Community Hero Award” from the Dodgers provoked widespread criticism among Catholics, including bishops.
Catholic commentators have described the Nationals affair as part of a wider concern in professional sport and corporate America that public expressions of orthodox Christian belief, particularly on marriage, sexuality and the defence of sacred imagery, can be treated as incompatible with institutional inclusion policies.
