Michele Tafoya, who recently left her position at NBC in large part due to her outspoken political views (the former Sunday Night Football sideline reporter identifies as a “pro-choice libertarian”), appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. The contentious 30-minute interview went exactly how you’d expect with Le Batard and Tafoya butting heads over everything from The Parental Rights in Education Act (informally referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill) to critical race theory.
“I’ve read what you refer to as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and nowhere in that bill does it say ‘Don’t Say Gay.’ I think we’re mislabeling that bill,” Tafoya argued at one point, failing to see how new legislation passed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis could be interpreted as homophobic. “Not everything has to be taught in school and a lot of this stuff can be taught at home. And if parents decide and vote in people that want to represent their notion that, ‘You know, I’d like to do this my way at home because we have our own social values.’”
Afterwards, Tafoya rebuked Le Batard and his producers for being unnecessarily hostile, bringing a clear agenda to what she expected to be a friendly conversation between old friends (Tafoya and Le Batard were once paired as substitute co-hosts on Pardon the Interruption). “The second I got on, I was ambushed with ‘You’re anti-CRT. You’re a racist. You can’t read the Florida law without it being homophobic,’” Tafoya lamented to Greg Gutfeld of Fox News. “I was absolutely ambushed.”
Tafoya must not have done her homework on Le Batard. The former ESPN personality is known for grilling guests including MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who he famously tangled with after the Marlins were sold to an investment group led by Hall-of-Fame shortstop Derek Jeter. Le Batard’s left-leaning politics, you may remember, helped facilitate his departure from ESPN in 2021. Former SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill, a frequent Le Batard collaborator, left ESPN under similar circumstances years earlier, falling out of favor with network heads for expressing her vocal opposition to then-President Donald Trump.
Le Batard, who has a habit of getting off on the wrong foot with guests, didn’t have to start the interview by suggesting Tafoya had crossed over to the “dark side” (an awkward introduction he later acknowledged as a poor attempt at humor). But regardless of how it started, anyone listening knew this interview was only going one way. Expecting a puff interview with no tough questions was a naïve assumption to make and Tafoya probably didn’t help her credibility by aligning herself with the “middle,” only to badmouth Le Batard hours later on Fox News.
The interview was an uncomfortable listen and probably won’t change anyone’s mind on any of the polarizing subjects discussed. However, the most cogent insight may have come from producer Mike Ryan, who pushed back on Tafoya’s assertion the “Don’t Say Gay” bill isn’t homophobic. “Respectfully, Michele, I don’t think it’s your place to say whether or not it’s homophobic,” Ryan argued. “I think the offended have a voice in this matter, and if they say it’s homophobic, perhaps we should listen to them.”
“This is the most contentious, angry Pride Month I’ve ever experienced. Everywhere you look it’s just a fight,” said ESPN reporter Israel Gutierrez (who is openly gay), discussing the fallout from Wednesday’s interview with Tafoya. “They just think this is a choice still. Like when you consider the Surfside mayor saying, ‘We’re not going to put up a Pride flag because next the Satanists will ask for one.’ Are we doing this? Are we really going backward on this stuff? Because it’s absolutely maddening and I just don’t have the time for it. I don’t have the time to listen to somebody who worked in sports and now all of a sudden wants to come out and be this person.”
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