Tag: Gayle Benson

Gayle Benson releases statement on George Floyd protests: ‘We stand against police brutality in any form’

Gayle Benson, owner of the Saints and Pelicans, released a statement condemning police brutality on Monday.

New Orleans Pelicans and Saints owner Gayle Benson was one of the final teams in the NBA to release a statement on Monday in response to the protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis last week. Though they were one of the last, the Pelicans offered one of the stronger responses in a variety of ways.

One week ago today, George Floyd was tragically and senselessly murdered. Anger, sadness and protest followed throughout our nation in response to this unjust murder. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of George Floyd.

There are no written words, nor the timing of those words that can properly honor the life of George Floyd. We stand against police brutality in any form. Statements are words; unified action towards a solution is what needs to come from this now.

Benson would go on to discuss some of the ways the Saints and Pelicans organizations have supported the community, specifically with regards to Saints linebacker Demario Davis’ projects while also donating office space to Operation Restoration, described in the release as “a program empowering women impacted by incarceration to successfully re-enter the community.”

Most notably, though, was the noted discussions held with Pelicans guards Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick and Davis and the formation of the Social Justice Leadership Coalition that will include those three athletes.

[lawrence-related id=23547,23541,23533]

Gayle Benson: One week ago today, …

Gayle Benson: One week ago today, George Floyd was tragically and senselessly murdered. Anger, sadness and protest followed throughout our nation in response to this unjust murder. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of George Floyd. There are no written words, nor the timing of those words that can properly honor the life of George Floyd. We stand against police brutality in any form. Statements are words; unified action towards a solution is what needs to come from this now.

Gayle Benson: I stand with them and I …

Gayle Benson: I stand with them and I will rely on their leadership and direction to make sure we are making the most powerful impact we can. And I am proud to announce that these three players will join me in a newly created Social Justice Leadership Coalition, within our organization. I welcome any of our other players to join as well. Our goal will be to advocate for issues of change when and where we are able to in black and brown communities. Hopefully our work will be a model for others. They will have my full support.

Saints, NFL run PSA to remind people to stay home, stay strong

The New Orleans Saints partnered with other NFL players and coaches to encourage fans to stay home and stay strong against the coronavirus.

[jwplayer QfjzedKi-ThvAeFxT]

Players and coaches from the New Orleans Saints partnered with their colleagues from around the NFL’s orbit to produce a helpful public service announcement in reaction to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Familiar faces in New Orleans like Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Cameron Jordan, Thomas Morstead, and Alvin Kamara each spoke out in the new video about the importance of staying home to prevent further infections in your community.

Brees has taken further action, pledging $5 million to assist with Louisiana relief efforts like investing in hospitals and delivering free meals to the needy. Saints team owner Gayle Benson has also stepped up with $1 million in assistance to workers in the New Orleans tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic. Payton has had a personal experience with the coronavirus, testing positive for it and using his platform to raise awareness of how people can respond.

Be sure to take their advice. Our team here at Saints Wire wishes you and your loved ones well in these difficult times. Stay safe.

[vertical-gallery id=30933]

Saints owner Gayle Benson donates $1 million to help fight COVID-19

New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson has committed $1-million towards helping those affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

[jwplayer AQgc57GW-ThvAeFxT]

New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson has committed $1 million towards creating a relief fund for service industry workers, establishing the Gayle Benson Community Assistance Fund. This fund will provide financial assistance for those workers that need it with the New Orleans-area tourism economy suffering due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Furthermore, Benson has implemented the Arena Assistance Fund. This program will ensure that all arena workers affected by the suspension of NBA league play will still receive wages for the remaining postponed games.

These actions comes after multiple NBA stars such as Zion Williamson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Blake Griffin and others have committed portions of their own salaries to ensure arena workers are looked after during this unconventional time. While many NBA owners have been quiet on this front (aside from Mark Cuban, who immediately identified a need to assist his employees who were suddenly out of work), others have stepped up to help the less fortunate. Here’s hoping Benson’s actions will spur her peers to action.

[vertical-gallery id=29911]

Gayle Benson, Pelicans to cover wages of arena, team employees during league suspension

Following the lead fellow NBA franchises, Gayle Benson announced a fund on Monday to cover wages of team and arena employees.

After Zion Williamson pledged to cover the salaries of Smoothie King Center employees for 30 days, New Orleans Pelicans owner Gayle Benson announced via press release on Monday that she would establish an Arena Assistance Fund to help cover wages of arena and Pelicans employees.

From the press release:

Separately from the $1 million contribution to start the Gayle Benson Community Assistance Fund, Benson will establish an Arena Assistance Fund for those who are impacted by the NBA postponement of games. Noting that the employees at the arena are not all Pelicans employees, the policy and implementation of the fund will be in coordination with the Louisiana Stadium Exposition District (LSED) and ASM New Orleans. Furthermore, all wages for Pelicans employees who work game days only will be guaranteed for the remaining postponed games.

Benson’s move comes after a host of other franchises did the same late last week and over the weekend. The Clippers and Lakers, Bucks, Cavaliers and Hawks, among others, all committed to cover wages of their team and/or arena employees. Individually along with Williamson, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Giannis Antetokounmpo all pledged money to help employees as well.

Reports on Sunday suggested that NBA owners and executives were expecting the league to be suspended until at least June. Paired with Sunday’s recommendation from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention that all events with at least 50 people be banned for eight weeks and the return of the NBA appears further and further away.

[lawrence-related id=21103,21097,21088]

Gayle Benson issues statement amid Saints’ involvement in Catholic abuse lawsuit

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a statement regarding her team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Church.

[jwplayer yY808HIT-ThvAeFxT]

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson released a lengthy statement regarding the team’s involvement in a lawsuit against the local Catholic Archdiocese, detailing her relationship with Archbishop Gregory Michael Aymond and the actions taken by Saints team personnel.

A lawsuit was recently filed against the Archdiocese alleging systemic abuse by clergy, and the Saints were implicated as having gone to court to protect email correspondence with the Church during a report from the Associated Press. A later report from the plaintiffs’ attorneys provided alleged details about the involvement of Saints staffers such as Greg Bensel, the senior vice president of communications.

In her statement, Benson confirmed that Bensel was asked to help the Church’s communications staff and that she has no regrets about the recommendations he made. She also dismissed the report that any Saints personnel were involved in choosing which accused clergy’s names should be made public back in 2018. However, she doubled down on the decision to involve the Saints in the situation with the Church.

Benson wrote, “We are proud of the role we played and yes, in hindsight, we would help again to assist the Archdiocese in its ability to publish the list with the hope of taking this step to heal the community. In addition, we already turned over every email to the court and plaintiff attorneys.”

Later, attorneys representing the plaintiffs responded in a brief statement to The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, refuting Benson’s account of the events:

[vertical-gallery id=28289]