ESPN Allows Hosts to Appear on Joy Reid's MSNBC Show
It appears ESPN no longer wants to hide its liberal bias -- a bias that the network has denied for years.
ESPN personalities are now allowed to appear on the most radical liberal show on television, Joy Reid's ReidOut.
Former High Noon host Bomani Jones joined Reid on Monday to complain about Charlie Kirk, who said the Super Bowl's halftime show promoted "sexual anarchy."
“I got to ask you," Jones began, "you mentioned Charlie Kirk and Ted Nugent. Why (are) we spending so much time talking about unimportant people with insincere intentions?”
Though it's humorous that Jones, a failed TV and radio host, has called Kirk, one of the most popular radio and podcast hosts in the country, "unimportant," that's not the main takeaway here. The story is that ESPN signed off on Jones' appearance. ESPN does not allow its employees to appear on other networks -- whether it's MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, The Ringer or CBS -- without its permission.
In the past, it was a crapshoot whether ESPN would allow them to make outside appearances, often deciding on a case-by-case basis. But now, ESPN regularly allows people like Jones and Chiney Ogwumike to appear on liberal talk networks, like MSNBC and CNN.
For the record, ESPN has not allowed a personality to appear on a right-leaning network in years, though some such networks have made several requests. ESPN has permitted Stephen A. Smith to go on Bill O'Reilly's digital show, but O'Reilly owns it, which means it's independent of a conservative network anyway. Between O'Reilly's independence and Smith's star power, ESPN decided to make an exception. ESPN would never allow, say, Sage Steele to appear on, say, Tucker Carlson Tonight.
ESPN's acceptance of Reid is particularly notable. MSNBC is bad enough, but at least it's a news organization. Reid is another story. Joy Reid is inaccurate, conspiratorial, and openly racist.
Some of Reid's recent headlines include calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “Uncle Clarence" and connecting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to a sex trafficking ring without any evidence.
This is to say, Reid is closer to the liberal equivalent of Alex Jones than of Sean Hannity.
Reid's show sings only one tune: Reid and her guests call white people and Republicans racist. So ESPN had to know the kind of arena Bomani Jones was entering when it agreed to let him appear on her show. In fact, ESPN likely enjoyed watching Jones join Reid in her liberal bigotry.