There's hope yet for Kathy Griffin. She might just need to wait for a new presidential administration.
That seems to be the situation for Hank Williams Jr., whose rollicking "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" will return to Monday Night Football this fall after a six-year hiatus.
The cause of the original split from ESPN? A 2011 interview with "Fox & Friends" where Williams compared then-President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler after a golf outing with then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"They're the enemy," Williams said, referring to Obama and Vice President Joe Biden when asked to explain.
But ESPN is reportedly ready for any backlash it might receive for the decision.
"I'm sure there'll be some (backlash), but I'm not concerned," said ESPN's senior vice president of events and studio production, Stephanie Druley, in an interview with the Tennessean. "It was the right time. We discussed it internally and it was just the right time to bring him back."
Williams himself is happy to return to Monday nights, telling the Tennessean, "I hope there will be some happy people on Monday night again. It feels natural, fulfilling and satisfying at this point when you've kind of done it all."
The announcement comes just weeks after ESPN entered a round of layoffs that resulted in around 100 writers and on-air talent losing their jobs.
Still, there's plenty to be excited about at ESPN. Like the new version of Williams' song.
"In listening to the recent cuts that I've gotten, it's phenomenal," Druley said. "It just immediately gets you psyched for the game you're going to watch, and for football fans, that's a big deal. I think people will be really, really excited about it."
