Roseanne Barr's racist tweet prompted ESPN managers to warn their most outspoken personalities about social media, the New York Post's Andrew Marchand reports. Specifically, sources say management contacted Jemele Hill, Keith Olbermann and "SportsCenter" anchor Kenny Mayne, all of whom regularly tweet about politics.
Hill created two firestorms last year with her social media use, most notably when she called President Trump a "white supremacist." The barb propelled the White House to call for Hill's firing. Weeks later, ESPN suspended Hill two weeks for suggesting Cowboys fans boycott the team's sponsors after Jerry Jones had ordered players to stand for the anthem.
Olbermann, meanwhile, has called Trump everything from a racist to neo-Nazi. ESPN announced last week it is expanding the bellicose ex-MSNBC star's role.
Disney cancelled "Roseanne" last week after Barr had called ex-Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, who is black, an "ape."
"Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show," Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement Tuesday.
Trump fired back at ABC, demanding president Bob Iger apologize to him for the "HORRIBLE statements" his network's reporters and broadcasters have supposedly made about him. ABC and ESPN are owned by the same parent company.
That statement from Trump shows how the president uses outrage to mobilize his supporters. NFL owners have privately admitted to changing the league's anthem policy in a futile effort to placate Trump. Naturally, Trump later criticized any players who would stay in the locker room, suggesting they leave the country.
It's unlikely ESPN executives had to tell Hill or Olbermann to refrain from using racist language on Twitter. But false equivalences fan the outrage machine, which has now become weaponized. Look no further than comedian Samantha Bee, who's seen two companies pull advertising from her show after she made a crude remark about Ivanka Trump.
ESPN keeps trying to have it both ways. On one hand, new president Jimmy Pitaro reportedly wants to shift away from politics. But on the other hand, he's bringing back Olbermann for a sixth stint.
That seems to be one big contradiction.
