By now, almost everyone in the poker world has most likely heard about the comments Daniel Negreanu made in regard to Annie Duke.

For the few that have not heard, Negreanu referred to Duke as a f***ing c*** in a conversation he thought was off the record.

Daniel was speaking about the Ladies Event at the 2010 World Series of Poker where some men decided to play in the event. These men allegedly played in order to expose the tournament as a discriminatory event.

In the past, Duke has not been in favor of ladies-only events, preferring sexual equality on the poker felt.

Negreanu took umbrage with Annie Duke stating, "what irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world.’ So on one side of the coin she’s fighting for ‘Oh, we’re all equal, there shouldn’t be any gender thing, but when appropriate she decides to call herself the best female poker player in the world. So I’m like ‘how offensive are you, you f***ing c***?’ You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over them.”

There is no doubt that Daniel chose the wrong words in his statement about Duke and no one would be out of line in seeing these words as offensive.

That question is not up for debate. The debate comes with the question, "Should Daniel be made to apologize by his sponsor, PokerStars?"

Daniel has every right to say what is on his mind.

His words were hurtful and offensive, but by no means were they illegal.

PokerStars seems to be fully aware of that fact and have offered the following statement: "Although Daniel Negreanu is a Team PokerStars Pro, he is an entity to himself and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his mind as he would otherwise do so, PokerStars Pro or not.”

The story that is being ignored in all this is that the PokerStars organization is fully supporting Negreanu’s right to free speech and not attempting to censor him in any way, and for that they should be applauded, not questioned or condemned.