The New York Mets fired general manager Jared Porter on Tuesday morning just hours after an ESPN report detailed his harassment of a female reporter in 2016. The story quickly became the top subject on social media, describing the unsolicited and sexually explicit text messages Porter sent when he was a member of the Chicago Cubs’ front office.

Porter reportedly met the woman, a foreign journalist covering MLB, in a Yankee Stadium elevator in June 2016. He would later send her inappropriate text messages, including a picture of an erect penis.

The photo was sent after the reporter ignored 62 consecutive texts from Porter, a fact that much of social media had difficulty understanding.

ESPN first saw the text messages three years ago but didn’t publish a story because the reporter thought doing so might harm her career. The woman has since left journalism and returned to her home country, where she fears backlash if her identity were ever to be revealed.

“I know in the U.S., there is a women's empowerment movement. But in [my home country], it’s still far behind,” the woman told ESPN. “Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal. Women are the ones who get fingers pointed at them. I don't want to go through the victimization process again. I don’t want other people to blame me.”

At the time of Porter's hiring, the Mets were largely lauded for the move.

Porter, 41, was previously married but divorced in 2014.

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A New York Mets batting helmet in the dugout before a spring training baseball game against the Houston Astros at Clover Park on March 8, 2020 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Rich Schultz/Getty Images
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