News

Actions

A criticism of ESPN turned into a debate about sexism

Posted

(RNN) - Sports blogger Clay Travis was brought on CNN on Friday afternoon to discuss ESPN's handling of an anchor's criticism of President Donald Trump, but the segment quickly devolved into a debate over sexism regarding Travis' comments.

Travis, a radio and TV commenter for Fox Sports 1, has been a vocal critic of ESPN for what he sees as hypocritical treatment of Jemele Hill, who called Trump a white supremacist on Twitter, compared to that of former baseball analyst Curt Schilling.

Schilling was fired from ESPN after sharing a meme responding to North Carolina's transgender bathroom bill. Hill was not fired and ESPN offered an apology, but did not take her off air.

But all that got lost in confusion after Travis said, "I believe in only two things completely - the First Amendment and boobs." And, with that, the segment derailed.

CNN host Brooke Baldwin questioned Travis on what the final word was thinking he meant "booze" or something else, and repeatedly asked for a clarification before ending the segment early and apologizing for Travis' comments. Travis repeated the line several times, never fully clearing up the intention behind his statement.

Travis was also criticized by former ESPN editor Keith Reed who was also part of the segment.

But it didn't stop there.

Travis tweeted about the segment multiple times, including a video explaining that it is a line he has used many times before and expressing confusion over the controversy and mocking Baldwin for being bothered by the comment.

Baldwin repeatedly referenced being a woman herself and questioned why it was relevant to the conversation.

Travis then wrote an article for his sports blog, OutkickTheCoverage.com, with the headline "I Love The First Amendment and Boobs" along with a picture of a woman in a bikini top. The post reads that CNN was "triggered" and that it was "left wing fauxragers losing their minds."

The link to that article is currently pinned to the top of his Twitter feed.

Travis also said he has a scheduled interview on Fox News, where he has been a recurring commenter, where he promises to repeat the line. He also said there are T-shirts featuring the line in the works.

Copyright 2017 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.