MLB commissioner says players won't be fined for Bible verses written on pride hats

San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said players on three San Francisco Giants players haven't been fined or punished, and won't be, for writing Bible verses on special rainbow-emblazoned hats the team made them wear in order to celebrate gay pride month.

Manfred was responding to an inquiry by U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri after the players faced a backlash from many in the mainstream media after seemingly violating MLB policy that prohibits players from writing personal messages on any part of their uniforms. 

"MLB Commissioner writes to me and admits they were wrong to threaten the Giants players over Bible verses and promises never to fine or discipline these players -- or any players for their religious beliefs," Hawley said in a post on X Monday evening that included Manfred's full three-page letter. Hawley had questioned Manfred over concerns that the league had discriminated against the players for their religious beliefs.

Manfred admitted that the players had been given a verbal warning, but said that happened before the league was aware that the Giants' management had not informed the players that wearing the hats was not mandatory. "The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be," Manfred said of Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walkerin the letter to Hawley. 

Photos of Rupp pitching with the verse "Gen 9:12-16" written on the hat next to the rainbow version of the team logo had gone viral last week. The verse refers to a passage in the first book of the Bible, in which God tells Noah after the flood that the rainbow will be his sign of the covenant between them.

The controversy was a topic of discussion on the latest episode of the Actual Friends podcast. During that discussion, Jillian Michaels told co-hosts Sage Steel and Drew Pinski that the annual pride month has been taken too far and having the opposite of its intended purpose. 

"I do not get the right or the luxury to force people who do not believe in celebrating gay relationships in they don't believe in gay marriage," Michaels, who is a lesbian herself, said. "They don't believe in gay families. They're allowed to have their own opinion. And I'm very unclear as to when we begin forcing them to celebrate something they obviously don't believe in and then demonizing their religion on top of it, which is arguably the worst thing you can do." 

Michaels said corporate America has "forced" pride month down Americans throats, causing many to resent the month entirely. Meanwhile, Florida's attorney general has also opened a probe into MLB over the incident. 

Watch the full Actual Friends discussion on the controversy here, and for more on the story, watch the video below.