Jarren Duran Makes Explicit Gesture Toward Fan During Red Sox Loss

The incident occurred during the fifth inning of the Red Sox’ 6-0 loss to the Twins at Target Field.

Duran has had multiple run-ins with fans during his career. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Red Sox All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran may find himself in some trouble with the league office for an incident that occurred during Boston’s 6–0 loss to the Twins on Tuesday night.

In the top of the fifth inning, Duran, after grounding out to second base in his second at-bat of the game, made an explicit gesture towards a Twins fan as he jogged back to the dugout along the first-base line. Broadcast cameras caught Duran making the gesture.

Jarren Duran flips off a fan in Minnesota pic.twitter.com/bLjRZYrjlV

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It isn't the first time Duran has had a run-in with a fan.

Jarren Duran’s tense history with fans

Duran, during a 10–2 loss to the Astros in an August 2024 game, responded to a heckling fan with a homophobic slur that was picked up by the NESN broadcast mics. He was issued a two-game suspension—unpaid—and his salary from the two games was donated to Greater PFLAG Boston, a regional affiliate of a national organization dedicated to supporting, educating and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, as well as their loved ones.

“During tonight’s game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan,” Duran said in a statement through the Red Sox. “I feel awful knowing how many people I offended and disappointed. I apologize to the entire Red Sox organization, but more importantly to the entire LGBTQ community. Our young fans are supposed to be able to look up to me as a role model, but tonight I fell far short of that responsibility.

“I will use this opportunity to educate myself and my teammates and to grow as a person.”

Jarren Duran, who has openly discussed his mental health, has had a series of run-ins with fans in recent years. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Duran, who has been open about his mental health, revealed in a 2025 Netflix documentary that his on-field struggles during the 2021 and ’22 seasons led him to a dark place where he contemplated and attempted suicide. Several weeks after the documentary's premiere, Duran got into it with a fan during the Red Sox’ 13–3 win over the Guardians. Duran said that a Cleveland fan had said “something inappropriate” to him after he had flied out to center field in the seventh inning.

The fan was eventually ejected while Red Sox fans and coaches prevented Duran from escalating the situation any further. The Red Sox outfielder later indicated that the fan's comment had concerned his mental health struggles and suicide attempt.

“When you open yourself up like that, you also open yourself up to the enemies,” Duran said at the time. “But I have a good support staff around me, teammates, coaches. There were fans that were supporting me, so that was awesome.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora at the time praised Duran for learning from the previous incident he had had with a fan. It appears that Tuesday's incident, while an unfortunate response by Duran, seems to also have been prompted by a fan taunting the Red Sox outfielder for his troubled past.

“Somebody just told me to kill myself,” Duran said of Tuesday’s incident, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com. “I’m used to it at this point. I mean, s--- happens. I mean, I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me. But it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that. But that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering. So it happens. Honestly, It's my fault for talking about my mental health. I kind of brought in the haters. So just something I’ve got to get used to.”

“I didn't really tell anybody [on the team], so that's on me. Just trying to hold it in, not really bring that up to the team. I mean, we're trying to win a game. I shouldn't even bring that up to anybody. It's not really something where I want to be like, bro, you should have heard with this guy said to me. That’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is winning the game and it just happens.”

Durant went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Boston's loss, which dropped the Red Sox to 6–11, tied for the worst record in the American League.

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