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Who is Jeremy Faison? Tennessee GOP rep apologizes for trying to pants referee at basketball game

'I acted the fool tonight. I’m hoping to be able to make it right,' the lawmaker said in his apology post

A top Tennessee State Representative (R) has issued an apology after being involved in a scuffle with a referee at a high school basketball game. Jeremy Faison reportedly went to see the game between Providence Academy, a private religious school in Johnson City, and Lakeway Christian Academy, a private religious school in White Pine on Tuesday, January 4. 

His son is reportedly a player for Lakeway Christian Academy. The game was live-streamed by Providence Academy on its Facebook page, but it’s now been taken down. The video is available on Twitter, though. There is no clear information on what exactly happened during the game, but a report filed with the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association noted that Faison showed up on the court after a brawl prompted the referee to whistle both teams for technical fouls.

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And when the official asked the politician to leave the floor, he apparently lost his temper and pointed a finger at the referee's face before seemingly making a failed attempt to try to pull down his pants. He was then seen leaving the premises. After the embarrassing act, the 45-year-old issued an apology both on Facebook as well as Twitter and said that he “acted the fool tonight. I’m hoping to be able to make it right.”

Who is Jeremy Faison?

Faison as a lawmaker represents Tennessee’s Cosby town. Also since 2019, he’s been the chairman of the House Republican caucus. It has been reported that Faison is also one of the highest-ranking House Leadership members in the legislative body. In his personal life, the Georgia-born is a husband to Miriam Faison and father to five kids.

For the Tuesday incident, Faison took to Facebook and wrote, “For years I thought how wrong it is when a parent loses their temper at a sporting event. It’s not Christian and it’s not mature and it’s embarrassing to the child have always been my thoughts. Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref. I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted from the gym.”

He added: “I’ve never really lost my temper for all to see, but I did tonight and it was completely stupid of me. Emotions getting in the way of rational thoughts are never good.  I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong.”

He received a lot of support from people for admitting his mistake. A user wrote, “Not too many people nowadays admit their mistakes.” The second user tweeted, “It’s takes a real man to humble himself and ask forgiveness. Good for you. You have taught your child 2 life lessons. Control your emotions and humility.  May all of us follow that example.” “I hope you can too. I bet you can. Thank you for acknowledging your mistake. Where there’s grace, there is no shame,” the third user added.

But some also blasted him for his “immature” act. A critic said, “I think the attempted ‘pantsing’ could be a sexual assault depending on how statute reads in TN- regardless there is a simple assault and battery on video which could be prosecuted.” Another critic stated: “Just curious, why would someone try to depants another person? I have never heard of such a thing until I read this story. I'm assuming it's some form of humiliation. It's a bizarre strategy.”