Taylor Twellman pulled from MLS broadcast after physical altercation

Soccer broadcaster Taylor Twellman is being investigated by Major League Soccer after an alleged physical altercation in October with a production assistant ahead of a playoff broadcast on Apple TV. 

The incident — which came to light in a report by The Athletic this week — involved the broadcaster and an audio engineer from Program Productions who had been hired to help with an Oct. 25 playoff match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United. 

Twellman, 44, allegedly made contact with the engineer in the booth, according to the report.

There is no video of the incident. 

At the time of the alleged altercation, there were only four people inside the Apple TV+ booth: Twellman, the audio engineer, play-by-play broadcaster Jake Zivin and one other unidentified person. 

The broadcast of the match had been dealing with audio difficulties, though it’s unclear if that played any factor in the alleged incident. 

Twellman, who was one of the biggest voices for soccer coverage on ESPN and is a former MLS star player, was on the air for the second game of the series between Atlanta and Miami on Nov. 2.

However, he was pulled for the deciding game last weekend. 

The decision to pull him from the broadcast for Game 3 came after the production assistant filed a union grievance, according to The Athletic. 

Steve Cangialosi and color commentator Danny Higginbotham ended up calling the final game, which came with a surprise playoff elimination of the Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami.

Both Twellman and MLS have not commented on the alleged incident. 

Twellman is expected to be back in the booth when the MLS playoffs resume on Nov. 23 for the LAFC and Seattle Sounders Western Conference semifinal. 

The MLS postseason has been paused due to the international break.