Follow-up: Blue Jays Apologize for Santander's Anti-Muslim Posts After Meeting Toronto Muslim Leaders; Santander Has Yet to Comment
The Toronto Blue Jays issued a formal apology on November 12 for the anti-Muslim posts their outfielder Anthony Santander shared on Instagram last week. In a statement, team president and chief executive officer Mark Shapiro said the club had met that day with leaders of Toronto's Muslim communities, and that the Blue Jays were deeply sorry for the pain and harm the posts caused the Muslim community and the team's fans. Santander himself has yet to comment publicly or apologize.
"We met with leaders in Toronto's Muslim communities today, who shared the harm caused by Anthony Santander's Islamophobic social media posts," Shapiro said. "The opportunity to listen and learn was important and reaffirms our beliefs and values as an organization. We condemn Islamophobia and all forms of hate. The Blue Jays are deeply sorry to the Muslim community and our fans for the pain and harm these Islamophobic posts have caused. We will work with leaders in Muslim communities to fight against all forms of hate. The Blue Jays will continue to ensure our organization reflects the inclusive community we are proud to call home."
It was the club's second statement on the matter. Its first response, on November 5, said only that "individual comments do not represent our organization's values and beliefs"; it offered no apology and did not name Islamophobia, and it drew criticism for that. According to USA Today, the November 12 statement explicitly condemned Islamophobia and apologized to the Muslim community and to fans.
On November 4, Santander shared two videos to the Stories of his Instagram account. One carried a caption reading "America voted for Sharia last night" and concerned Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who had just been elected to the U.S. Senate; in the other, a Christian preacher described Islam as "not peaceful" and said there is "no such thing as kind Muslims." The posts were deleted two days later. El-Sayed won his race in the November 3 midterms to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, speaking Tuesday at the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, said he had spoken with Santander and asked him to address the controversy publicly, telling reporters: "There really aren't words to express my level of disappointment." According to The Canadian Press, Santander and the agency that represents him have not responded to multiple messages, and it remains unclear whether the Blue Jays will discipline him.
Steven Zhou, media and communications lead for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said Thursday's meeting lasted about an hour with several community advocates on hand, and that the council considered it a positive step in the right direction, citing a commitment to put the player through training and the public apology from the chief executive and the organization. "The next step, of course, we would like to see an apology from the player himself and an expression from him about why this is wrong," he said. Earlier in the week, Zhou said community members were "very, very upset" by the posts. The Blue Jays are Major League Baseball's only team in Canada; according to Statistics Canada's 2021 census, Canada has more than 1.78 million Muslims, and about 10 per cent of Toronto's 2.8 million residents identify as Muslim.
Santander, 32, is a native of Venezuela who signed a five-year, $92.5 million contract with Toronto in January 2025. He hit 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, was limited to 54 games by injury in his first season with Toronto in 2025, and did not play at the big-league level this season because of injuries.
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Source: Toronto Blue Jays
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 安东尼·桑坦德本人资料图（2023年5月效力巴尔的摩金莺队时期，Doc Cardio摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons） | File photo: Anthony Santander with the Baltimore Orioles in May 2023 (Source: Wikimedia Commons, photo by Doc Cardio, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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