A Pittsburgh TV station has fired an employee after the station identified football star Tom Brady as a “known cheater” during a Monday broadcast.

The label ran on-screen during a news report about Brady at the end of CBS affiliate KDKA’s 4 pm. news broadcast. The “known cheater” barb was briefly featured just below Brady in the chyron. Screenshots of the incident whipped across social media with much chuckling on Wednesday.

“While fans are entitled to have personal opinions, we have a journalistic responsibility to provide unbiased reporting,” KDKA told Sports Illustrated. “The graphic that appeared Monday violated our news standards. The individual who created the graphic no longer works for KDKA-TV.”

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While KDKA did not identify the employee, an unverified Twitter account belonging to a user going by the name Michael Telek — who is identified on the account as a news producer — tweeted Wednesday, “Hi there, I got fired for this joke. I just bought a house so that is putting a pinch on things. Once I land a job there will be a GOAT Giveaway where I will donate the money to charity in Tom Brady’s name.”

Hi there, I got fired for this joke. I just bought a house so that is putting a pinch on things. Once I land a job there will be a GOAT Giveaway where I will donate the money to charity in Tom Brady’s name.https://t.co/KzXhpbuOpF

– Michael Telek (@mktelek) January 30, 2019

The account and a rep for KDKA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from TheWrap. The employee did manage to find a groundswell of support for the move online, however, in the form of numerous sympathetic tweets and even a GoFundMe which has so far raised more than $600.

“Michael is a great guy. He is smart, hard-working, and would go out of his way to help anyone,” wrote organizer Connor Trushel. “He has just bought a house and with no job and bills to pay, he needs some help till he is back on his feet. Mainly, I just wanna bring awareness to the man behind the harmless photo.”

Brady, a legendary football quarterback for the New England Patriots, has won five Super Bowls over the course of his career. The “known cheater” chyron apparently relates to a specific incident in the 2014-2015 season when Brady and the Patriots were accused of giving themselves an unfair edge by deflating several footballs during a game with the Indianapolis Colts. The resulting imbroglio — thereafter known as “Deflategate” — led to a four-game suspension for Brady and a $1 million fine for the Patriots.

And though Brady has consistently denied any wrongdoing, it’s clear that a certain segment of football fans have not forgotten.

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Bryan Goldberg: In an otherwise ugly year for media, which was marred by layoffs and consolidations, the Bustle kingpin proved a standout success. His acquisitions of Gawker and Mic.com for bargain-basement discounts suggest plans for a burgeoning digital empire.

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Los Angeles Times: The iconic LA broadsheet was well on its way to the losers' column under the disastrous leadership of Tronc. The paper, however, was rescued by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong for a half-billion dollars. Now, in swanky new offices, the paper is expanding.
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Chris Cuomo: The CNN anchor had always been a standout on the network's morning show, "New Day," but he really came into his own after a move to primetime in June of this year. Cuomo is still way behind his rivals at MSNBC and Fox News, but he has injected new life into the hour, which had been moribund under its earlier host Anderson Cooper.
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Hope Hicks: The former White House communications director and Trump whisperer managed to leave the White House scandal-free and with her reputation intact in February. She then landed herself a plush new gig at "new" Fox where she serves as comms chief. Just 30 years old, it's a good bet you'll be hearing more of her in the years to come.

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The Washington Examiner: The Trump-leaning D.C. tabloid got a jolt of new energy after poaching New York Post Op-Ed editor Seth Mandel. The paper will also be expanding nationally next year, largely off the carcass of its sister publication The Weekly Standard (which will be shuttered).
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Ronan Farrow: Once an obscure MSNBC journalist, Ronan Farrow has rocketed to fame while reporting some of the biggest stories of the MeToo movement. His pieces for the New Yorker on Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman all played a significant role in ending their careers. He nabbed a Pulitzer Prize for his efforts, and — in his spare time — managed to write a bestselling book on foreign policy.
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Shari Redstone: The National Amusements super-boss spent much of 2018 scheming against her rival, former CBS chief Les Moonves, and attempting to force a merger between CBS and Viacom. A MeToo scandal put Moonves away for good and now makes the merger a near certainty.

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Fox & Friends: President Trump watches the nation's top cable news morning show with near religious devotion. As he has since 2011, he sometimes calls in to offer lengthy monologues about world issues. Segments from the show are regularly repackaged into the president's Twitter feed and can shape news cycles for days. When hosts are upset with him, they have occasionally looked directly into the camera to tell him so.
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Rachel Maddow: America in the Trump era has also created a crop of #resistance heroes, with the brightest star being Rachel Maddow. The MSNBC host expounds nightly on the latest details of the Russia probe and delivers lurid speculation about how the latest scandal will be the one to take the president down. Maddow and her program have been rewarded in the ratings, making her the most significant (non-Fox) anchor in cable news by far.
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Megyn Kelly: Yes, she may have lost her NBC show. But the ratings had been sagging and everyone agreed it was a bad fit anyway. Now the former "Today" star is poised to walk with a roughly $30-million severance package, and if you don't think a tell-all book is coming, you haven't been paying attention.

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