Dan Le Batard had multiple bouts with ESPN during his time at The Worldwide Leader. Never shy to note what he considered to be their hypocrisies, Le Batard’s candor ultimately led to his departure from ESPN.
Sunday morning, Le Batard defended his former colleague Ariel Helwani and called out ESPN for failing to support their MMA reporter. Late last week, UFC President Dana White called Helwani a “douche” for his opinionated reporting of MMA fighter Gina Carano. Recently, Carano shared a post on social media, comparing current political differences with the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children,” Carano wrote on Instagram before sharing the following quote from a different account:
“Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.”
Helwani, who is Jewish, posted a near nine-minute-long response on his personal Instagram account. “As a Jewish person, and as a human being, it just doesn’t sit well,” Helwani said. “And I wish she would have never posted that. And quite frankly I wish someone would have talked to her about her social media posts over the past year. Some of them not even political. Just in general, they felt off to me. I am sorry she has gone down this path.”
After White fired back, calling Helwani a “douche,” ESPN declined to comment on the incident when Ryan Glasspiegel reached out. It didn’t stop a number of Helwani’s current and former colleagues from defending the MMA reporter, including Le Batard, who was critical of both White and ESPN.
White was a frequent guest on Le Batard’s ESPN show, but that didn’t stop the radio host from sharing his honest assessment of the situation. Le Batard never hesitated to be critical of ESPN and their “stick to sports” mandates while he was their employee, his opinions won’t soften now that he’s gone.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
