Anthony Santander reportedly posted Islamophobic content to his verified Instagram's stories on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The posts came after nationwide elections a day earlier.
The Toronto Blue Jays outfielder was seen to have shared two reels to his personal page, one featuring Abdul El-Sayed, who won a highly-contested race for U.S. Senator in Michigan and in doing so became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Screenshots of that video showed a caption that read, "America voted for Sharia (law) last night!" The other post seen in screenshots had a caption on the video that said, "Islam is not peaceful."
Both posts were no longer on Santander's stories by Thursday night, which was after the 24-hour life span of an Instagram story. Various
people posted screenshots onto their own social media pages, saying the posts were deleted before their expiration.
The Blue Jays released a statement about the posts to multiple publications on Thursday. USA TODAY Sports reached out to the team and had not received a response at the time of publication.
“Baseball is for everyone,” Toronto said in the statement, “and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”
Santander, 32, did not play for Toronto last season as the Blue Jays went 79-83 and failed to make the playoffs. He has been struggling with shoulder injuries and had surgery in February.
The Venezuela native was limited to just 54 regular season games in 2025, the first year of a five-year, $92.5 million contract, due to a left shoulder subluxation. He returned in time to play in five playoff games, but a back injury forced his removal from the ALCS roster, ending his season. The Blue Jays made it to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Contributing: Gabe Lacques
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blue Jays respond to Anthony Santander's Islamophobic Instagram stories
