ESPN: Never Again
It was inevitable. As soon as the hordes of ravenous HLS readers sunk their talons into the whole “Barbaro Embarrasses Herself, Entire Herd” thing, we knew that this would be the result.
Dana Jacobson was suspended by the network for getting drunk and making religious slurs at a roast with fellow ESPN personalities Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.
“We’ve had to adapt and I’ve made one change — we’re not doing any more roasts,” said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president of content. “The big adaptation is everybody has to be cognizant we’re in a world where there is less and less privacy. . . . You have to watch what you say unless you’re in your own home sealed in a hyperbaric chamber.”
So good on you, dear HLS readers. You managed to force a top executive of an entertainment giant to get someone in the Orlando Sentinel to do a puff piece about how they’re going to change. For real this time! Seriously!
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8 Comments
well at least we got something more than the stock answer “We realize what she said was wrong but we dont remember exactly what happened that night.”
I actually think the response is a pretty big cop-out. Saying “you know what, we cant have these events anymore because the tactless, malicious and insensitive things we like to say will get out in the world” is weak. He should’ve said that they’re not doing those things anymore because some employees are morons, and then he should’ve fired her.
He’s essentially saying that they have to watch what they say because people will find out about. Not ‘we shouldn’t say the wrong things’. Lame.
It was a useless attempt on saying something useful and meaningful. Gee they gave up roasts what a tremendous sacrifice.
Damnit! I was really looking forward to the Steve Rosenbloom Roast.
You have to realize what a “sacrifice” These ESPN clods got free comp and booze. I cry for them. Ahahaha
ESPN’s response was a cop-out. Clearly the fault didn’t lie with a lack of privacy. It wasn’t like this show was at somebody’s house. It was at the house of blues–maybe that’s where he got mixed up. Again, if the slur had been racist/non-Christian and outside the family of ESPN, it would’ve been run ad nauseum by ESPN. It’s amazing that even after tasting their own medicine ESPN doesn’t have the grace to admit one of their own fucked up. Clearly the problem wasn’t that she and others were saying inappropriate things in the name of comedy. It was that one specific person stepped out of bounds to a point that demands apology and consequences.
It’s essentially Michael Richardson trying to say “Well camera’s weren’t allowed in the comedy club!” after his incident last year.
*richards
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