Dan Le Batard Backs Out Of Interview With OutKick

Last week, a publicist working with Dan Le Batard contacted OutKick to ask if we were interested in interviewing Dan Le Batard during Super Bowl week.

"Hi Bobby, 

"The Big Game is here in Las Vegas and "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" podcast will kick off football’s biggest week at Stadium Swim at Circa Resort & Casino," said the publicist.

"If you’re interested, I’d love to schedule a phone interview with Dan Le Batard to discuss Big Game and his broadcast at Stadium Swim," the email said in bold font.

We said yes.

"Hi. 

"Yes, we would be happy to interview Dan next week. Please, let us know some times that work for him."

We thought the interview would be entertaining for our readers.

I planned to ask Le Batard about what he needed to promote – his "Big Game" broadcast – and about my criticisms of him.

I’ve questioned how Le Batard could justify hiring Howard Bryant, who police arrested for choking and beating his wife, but run-down professional sports leagues for not taking domestic violence seriously enough. 

We had hoped he could explain that. 

As well as why he considers it inappropriate for ESPN to allow Aaron Rodgers to share center-of-right opinions on television but previously defended pundits and athletes using their platforms to criticize Donald Trump.

Le Batard strongly criticized the UFC for mixing conservative politics with live sports. He supported the NBA painting Black Lives Matter, as in the political organization that came out in support of savagery in Israel, on its courts. 

We were going to ask him about that, too.

And his decision to defend Deadspin willfully lying about a nine-year-old boy wearing blackface.

I also wanted to give Le Batard a chance to explain his criticisms of me. 

He previously claimed on his podcast that I "proudly wear the hood," as in the KKK hood.

In September, he accused me of "weaponizing" Mina Kimes to cater to a group of misogynistic radicals. 

"Outkick–good god almighty, shit stain, you have birthed an army of shit stains, man, when you go after that woman, not having any earthly idea how hard it is overcoming all the bullshit in this industry by knuckle draggers at the executive level and on social media," said Le Batard.

As we said, the interview would be quite entertaining. 

Unfortunately, Le Batard backed out.

The publicist responded on Monday, claiming there was a  "scheduling miscommunication."

"Hi Bobby, 

"Sorry for the delay, there seems to have been a scheduling miscommunication and Dan is unfortunately unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Convenient. And dishonest.

Here’s what happened:

PR firms partner with radio shows during Super Bowl week to promote content. They send interview invites to outlets with enough reach to promote said content. 

This firm sent the same email to three to five other outlets. The rep then informed Le Batard of the outlets that responded with a "yes." 

That is when he backed out.

See, the PR rep was unaware of Le Batard’s feelings towards OutKick. Evidently, she did not check with Le Batard before sending the email requests outside.

They were most certainly unaware that Le Batard has been ducking comment requests from OutKick for over a year.

Still, we hope he changes his mind. If Le Batard can overcome his  "scheduling miscommunication," we are available this week for a chat.