After a video gained traction on the internet in which FOX Sports studio host Charissa Thompson admitted to fabricating sideline reports when she used to work in the role for the network, she received backlash and was castigated by industry professionals and consumers. Following her hosting TNF Tonight on Amazon Prime Video, Thompson posted an apology to Instagram on Friday morning that explained her rationale and claimed she had never lied or done anything unethical as a journalist.
Many professionals within sports media, such as NBC Sports writer Peter King, believe that the apology fails to demonstrate accountability and an understanding of what she did wrong. Joe DeCamara of SportsRadio 94WIP shares a similar sentiment, prompting him to take the time on Monday’s morning show to outline the insufficiencies embedded within the message.
“Her explanation was so positively preposterous, I think she dug herself a fricking bigger hole,” DeCamara said before the show played audio from her podcast appearance on Pardon My Take and read her subsequent apology.
DeCamara surmised that the only acceptable action for Charissa Thompson was to simply apologize and declare that it would never happen again. In his remarks, he viewed the situation as a crisis instance within public relations and an attempt for her to make amends with those in the viewing audience with whom she lost trust.
“You take that sword and you fall directly on that sword, and you basically ask for the American public’s forgiveness,” DeCamara said. “To me, that’s the only play you have because there’s nothing else; in my opinion, there’s nothing else you can do.”
After reading her apology on the air, DeCamara called the statement “a bunch of trash,” which led co-host Jon Ritchie to elucidate on the deception connotated within the verbiage of the message.
“She’s basically saying that what she said is not true,” Ritchie explained. “She told us, ‘I made up reports,’ quote-unquote. Honestly, it might be one of the worst excuses I’ve ever heard in my life.”
Rhea Hughes, co-host of the morning show on SportsRadio 94WIP, highlighted a social media post from Kelly Stafford, wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. She stated that colleagues of men will band together when one of them makes a mistake, whereas fake female colleagues attack a woman when they do something wrong with a feminist agenda. Hughes asserted that this incident has nothing to do with that, but rather that Thompson’s apology simply failed to meet the mark.
DeCamara responded by suggesting that Charissa Thompson needed to demonstrate humility in her plea for forgiveness rather than publishing an apology where she vouchsafed her reasoning as to why her actions were acceptable. Thompson has yet to address the issue outside of the statement, nor has her podcast co-host Erin Andrews commented after she revealed taking part in similar actions in the past.
“If she’s on my TV screen, my expectation is I’ll change the channel,” DeCamara said. “I’ll just change the channel. I have no desire to watch her on TV if (1) she makes up reports back in the day and (2) she thinks [it] is acceptable and she didn’t do anything unethical. If that’s the standard that she brings to the sports entertainment world in whatever role she’s in – even if it’s not a sideline reporter; she’s just the host of a TV show – boom, next channel. That’s my standard because I’ve got no time for that nonsense.”
