ESPN’s Dan Le Batard did not host his sports radio show on Monday morning, reportedly after talking to the broadcaster’s president, Jimmy Pitaro, about the network’s ban on discussing politics.
The Sports Business Journal reported that Le Batard was insistent he should be able to talk about politics on his show and believed he was not in the right frame of mind to host his show after talking to Pitaro.
Le Batard and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro were in contact much of the weekend. Sources said Pitaro would not waver from his policy of no pure-play politics. Le Batard told Pitaro that he was not in the right frame of mind to do his radio show Monday.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) July 22, 2019
Le Batard criticized Donald Trump’s recent racist comments and ESPN itself on air last week. ESPN later sent out a notice to employees reminding them of the network’s policy of not discussing politics on air.
For ESPN, the episode raises comparisons to what happened following anti-Trump tweets by its former anchor Jemele Hill nearly two years ago. Following that case, and claims from conservatives that ESPN had a liberal bias, Pitaro decreed that its employees should avoid political talk unless they’re reporting on issues raised by sports figures.
Le Batard spoke in the wake of Trump’s rally in North Carolina, at which the president renewed his attacks on four Democratic congresswomen of color, prompting a chant from his audience of “send her back”, directed at US Representative Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota. The ESPN host said the attacks on Omar were un-American, and that it was wrong of Trump to seek reelection by dividing people. “We here at ESPN don’t have the stomach for the fight,” Le Batard said. “We don’t talk about what is happening unless there is some sort of weak, cowardly sports angle that we can run it through.”
Le Batard’s criticism of ESPN‘s policy sets him apart from Hill, who in September 2017 tweeted on her personal account that Trump was a “white supremacist” and “bigot.” The White House called that a fireable offense, but Hill said sorry and the network accepted her apology.
She was suspended a month later for violating the network’s social media policy when she tweeted in favor of an advertiser boycott against the Dallas Cowboys, whose owner Jerry Jones had said players who disrespected the American flag would not play on his team. Hill has said she regretted putting her bosses in a difficult position, and amicably left ESPN within a year. She now writes for the Atlantic and has a weekly podcast.
Along with the White House call for Hill’s firing, Trump tweeted in October 2017 that “with Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have ‘tanked,’ in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!”
