Gregg Zaun was one of many media professionals whose careers were derailed in the late 2010s as part of what has become known as the #MeToo movement, as women across industries raised awareness around sexual harassment in the workplace.

Zaun played 16 MLB seasons as a journeyman catcher before retiring in 2010 and joining SportsNet as a Toronto Blue Jays studio analyst. According to The Toronto Star, Zaun developed a reputation for making bold statements and wearing flashy clothing. In 2017, Zaun was fired after several SportsNet colleagues accused him of sexual harassment.

In an episode of the Toronto Legends podcast released this week, Zaun expressed remorse for the mistakes he made around women at SportsNet while explaining how his dismissal from the network sent his life down a spiral that was already troubled due to alcohol addiction.

“I definitely made mistakes. I let celebrity get in my head,” Zaun said. “I was never as famous in Canada as a player as I was as a broadcaster. I mean, I couldn’t walk down the street.”

Zaun expressed disappointment that he did not have better judgment in what he called “flirting” with female coworkers at SportsNet, but added, “I never put my hands on anybody. I’m not that kind of guy.”

Since the incident, Zaun explained that he has been in therapy and gotten sober. Putting in work on his mental health has helped Zaun realize that his improprieties at SportsNet were his fault. But he is still recovering from the toll that his firing took on him professionally.

“My life was turned upside down, ruined. My professional career, ruined,” he said.

“I can’t get a job in television. There’s not a lot of forgiveness for people that look like me in this world. And it’s my fault. It’s absolutely my fault. There are certain topics of conversation that don’t belong in the workplace. And it’s funny, the biggest mistake that I’ve made is thinking that because a lot of the conversations and exchanges were initiated by females in the workplace that they were somehow OK. That I was somehow justified in participating in those conversations. The tomfoolery, the hijinx. These allegations, they were shocking to me.”

“What I failed to realize is that I wasn’t the only one laughing. And there were other people seeing what was going on, hearing about what was going on, and silently affected by my behavior, by the behavior of the other participants. Females. And men. And quite frankly, unacceptable behavior.”

High-profile men in media and entertainment could fall back on tremendous wealth and connections after they were “canceled.” But in a case like Zaun’s, we see how difficult a hole these punishments can be to dig out of. Zaun was one of the most prominent examples of #MeToo rearing its head in sports media, but far from the only early-career analyst to face repercussions for inappropriate behavior.

Setting aside the mostly unproductive conversation around “cancel culture” and “anti-woke” rhetoric, which is often led by comedians and podcasters these days, many are doing the work of turning the #MeToo movement into a safer and more equitable future. That means creating laws and policies that protect women, at the very least, in professional settings. But on a cultural and social level, it also means figuring out what to do with people like Zaun.

The former SportsNet analyst was ostracized and forced out of work eight years ago. From the sound of it, Zaun put in work to better himself and change his behavior for the better. What now?

Zaun clearly wants to work in the business again. But the stigma of his past mistakes still appear to be keeping him from reaching that goal.