Center Grove schools call the podcast comments disparaging and unacceptable and say the podcast is not affiliated with the district
Center Grove Community School CorporationPublic school district for White River Township in Johnson County, Indiana, which operates Center Grove High School, in a joint statement with the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township released through its director of communications, Wes Anderson
In a joint statement with the Warren Township district, the Center Grove Community School Corporation calls the podcast's comments about Warren Central High School disparaging and unacceptable and says the podcast and its hosts are not affiliated with the district, are not its employees and do not speak for it.
“Today, we became aware of disparaging and unacceptable comments that were made about Warren Central High School during a podcast called Inside Center Grove Football. Neither this podcast, nor its hosts, are affiliated with Center Grove Community School Corporation. The participants are not Center Grove employees, nor do their views represent the beliefs of CGCSC.”
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Official statement
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Where this statement fits
Center Grove and Warren Township school districts call fan podcast's comments about Warren Central "disparaging and unacceptable"; host apologizes
On November 11, 2026, the Center Grove Community School Corporation and the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township issued a joint statement calling comments made about Warren Central High School on the fan-run Inside Center Grove Football podcast disparaging and unacceptable. According to IndyStar and USA Today, clips that circulated that day showed the podcast's hosts commenting on the ages of Warren Central's football players and on their reading ability. The districts said the podcast and its hosts are not affiliated with the Center Grove school corporation, that neither district condones the words or beliefs, and that the podcast removed the episode and apologized at both schools' request. In a video on the podcast's YouTube channel, host Jeff Paxson said he wished he had not made the comments, described them as rivalry trash talk, took them back and apologized. Center Grove plays at Warren Central in a Class 6A regional championship game on November 13.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Post by the official X account of the Center Grove High School athletic department, which links to the Center Grove school corporation's website. It shares the joint statement of the Center Grove Community School Corporation and the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township as an image, with both districts' logos. The image text matches the statement on the Warren Township district's website, apart from a comma.
Official statement
About this source
Joint statement dated November 11, 2026, posted on the Warren Township district's news page. It says the two districts became aware that day of disparaging and unacceptable comments made about Warren Central High School on a podcast called Inside Center Grove Football, that the podcast and its hosts are not affiliated with the Center Grove school corporation or employed by it, and that neither district condones the words or beliefs. It adds that the podcast removed the episode and issued a public apology at the request of both schools, and that the districts' focus is a safe regional championship game at Warren Central on Friday night.
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About this source
IndyStar report of November 11, 2026, carried in full on Yahoo Sports. It reports that the two districts issued a joint statement that afternoon after a podcast clip surfaced earlier in the day, that the podcast is not affiliated with Center Grove football or the school although the podcasters sat in front of an Inside Center Grove Football sign, and that the hosts commented on the ages of Warren Central's players and, in another clip, on the reading ability of its students. It attributes the statement to both schools, released through Center Grove's director of communications, Wes Anderson.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The joint statement of the two districts is dated November 11, 2026. The Center Grove High School athletic department shared it on X as an image, and IndyStar reported that both schools released it through Center Grove's director of communications, Wes Anderson.
After the quotation
The statement continues that both districts share the disappointment and frustration their school communities feel about the harm the comments caused, that neither condones the words or beliefs, and that the podcast removed the episode and apologized at the request of both schools.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the comments the hosts of the Inside Center Grove Football podcast made about Warren Central High School and its football players, including remarks about the players' ages and reading ability. The Center Grove district calls the comments disparaging and unacceptable and says the podcast and its hosts have no connection to it. Separating the district from the podcast could on its own be a challenge to how the comments were attributed, but the statement also directly criticizes the comments, so it condemns them.
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- Inside Center Grove Football
More from this case
Read the full caseWarren Township district says the podcast comments caused harm and that it does not condone them
Metropolitan School District of Warren Township
“CGCSC and MSDWT share the disappointment and frustration both our school communities feel about the harm these comments have caused. Neither corporation condones these words or beliefs.”Read statement
Podcast host Jeff Paxson apologizes and describes the comments as rivalry trash talk
Inside Center Grove Football
“...the spirit of a rivalry and trash talk. I absolutely respect Warren Central and their program ... I take those words back completely ... I truly apologize.”Read statement
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- Center Grove schools call the podcast comments disparaging and unacceptable and say the podcast is not affiliated with the district
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The Dispute Index. "Center Grove schools call the podcast comments disparaging and unacceptable and say the podcast is not affiliated with the district". First published: 2026-11-12. Last updated: 2026-11-12. https://disputeindex.com/events/8668-in-a-joint-statement-with-the-warren-township