As confusing as this will sound - if the roles were reversed with the club legend being the chairman and the sponsor deal being Lee and this story broke who's side would you be on?
No one even knows what Lee said to Chris, if it was that bad the quote would be out in the papers right now. As a club we were as shocking as we were before Lee came... so the issue is beyond Lee. We just love to use him as the scapegoat, imo the real issue is Pascoe not the guy who you can tell genuinely cares for the club and pours money into it (unlike others like Harry who just watch on).
Take away the persona and look at the situation entirely - I understand Chris is adored and Lee is the villain but let's be unbiased in this scenario. This private exchange should've never been brought up to the media let alone Hooper - especially the day after we seem to have some positive attention come our way with the Fainu's. Kicking the club when it's already down and out in the manner he did should never be the avenue a club legend takes.