It is easy to put ESPN in the crosshairs when it comes to sports media.
ESPN is by far the largest company in that regard. So it is not surprising when the spotlight gets shown on them whether it is good or bad. One of the more recent examples was the interaction between Malika Andrews and Stephen A. Smith.
The two disagreed over how the Boston Celtics handled the Ime Udoka situation. Andrews did have a valid point, yet it was lost due to her attitude and tone of voice when she called on to Smith’s show First Take.
Smith to his credit stood his ground when Andrews tried to interrupt. To summarize he stated that he gave her the opportunity to voice her opinion, now it is his turn to respond. Still that happens a lot in disagreements, in other word it is a common occurrence.
Now was it enough for ESPN to get involved? Absolutely not.
Is it an example now of the company not being “woke?” Absolutely not. Cause in reality it has never been and recent examples shows they have come nowhere close to fitting that description.
The most recent evidence of this is what happened with Rachel Nichols during the NBA playoffs in 2021. She discussed what happened with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the All The Smoke show. It is a great interview, it illustrates how poorly the situation was handled. Definitely go find it and see fo yourself to hear what actually happened.
In August 2022, former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill was interview by USA Today about her time there. Interestingly the title of the piece specifically uses the term “conservative culture.” Why was that because a tweet she had sent out caught the attention of the President of the United States.
During that same time period of Hill, anchor John Buccigross got accused of sexual harassment by Adrienne Lawrence. He had sent inappropriate text messages and a shirtless picture of himself to her.
The result ESPN and Lawrence settled a lawsuit in 2019. Buccigross is still employed with the company.
Funny how those things work isn’t it? It hardly portrays ESPN as woke, when it is the women who get forced out. In fact Hill said it best in her interview “it’s a conservative culture at ESPN and so this idea that ESPN is being run by flower children is just a lie. That’s not how it is. It’s the opposite, if anything.”
Simply put, there is no wokeness at ESPN.
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