ESPN Finally Looking To Cancel Genocide-Defending, Anti-Religion Sports Show (Around The Horn)

ESPN debuted a program in 2002 called "Around the Horn" to supplement its flagship debate program "Pardon the Interruption" in the same one-hour block.

The show served the valuable purpose of placing newspaper columnists on television, an idea at which most television executives scoffed. Early panelists included accomplished writers like Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Jackie MacMullan, and Bob Ryan.

However, "ATH" has drastically changed since its inception. The New York Post reported this week that ESPN plans to cancel the program by the fall of 2025. 

It's about time. 

No show in sports underwent a more profound woke-ification over the past decade than  "Around the Horn," the epicenter of racial grievances and hyper-partisan sports commentary.

Led by executive producer and guilty white man Erik Rydholm, the show pivoted away from credible columnists in 2024 in favor of writers more known for their social commentary than coverage of sports, such as Jemele Hill, Bomani Jones, Michael Smith, Mina Kimes, and Sarah Spain.

Groupthink and intolerance of diverse opinions now infest the program. 

"Around the Horn" is the cause of some of the most sinful comments found on ESPN. Most notably, panelist and DEI hire J.A. Adande defended the genocide the Chinese Communist Party committed against Muslim Uyghurs just two years ago:

A show on ESPN compared voter identification in red states to slave labor, forced abortions, and forced sterilization. And yet, neither host Tony Reali nor a single panelist opted to push back on his assertion. ESPN did not comment. 

Likewise, the host and program didn't flinch when Sarah Spain referred to religion as "bullsh*t" in 2022, responding to five Tampa Bay Rays players who refused to wear the gay pride logo on account of their faith.

Last year, host Reali downplayed trans athletes infringing on women's safe spaces by uttering that "trans rights are our rights." What about women's rights? We asked Reali that question at the time. He did not provide a comment.

By 2018, it had become an open secret inside the walls of ESPN that "Around the Horn," despite perpetually adding new panelists, had unofficially disqualified white males from consideration.

The network originally justified that stance by telling agents that only "columnists" were in consideration for the show, sources tell OutKick. We were told that is why the likes of Field Yates, Brian Windhorst, and Zach Lowe could never appear.

However, and here's the kicker: ESPN essentially pulled out of the column business after the discontinuation of ESPN The Magazine in 2019. The only traditional "columns" the brand now publishes fall under the Andscape vertical, a black sports website. And because Andscape only hires black writers, "Around the Horn" can only add black panelists to "ATH."

Now, you understand why obscure figures like Justin Tinsley and some guy called Martenzie Johnson are on television: they were born with the right skin color and at the right time.

Amusingly, OutKick inquired about the believed racial barrier to appearing on "Around the Horn" last summer. We sent Erik Rydholm and Tony Reali the following email on July 25, 2023:

Tony and Erik, I had inquired about writing this a few times over the past year but always wanted to speak to one of you for confirmation. But several ESPN talents have brought it up again. 

So, I will ask:

Is it accurate to say you guys will not allow new white male panelists on the show, thus why Frank Isola was the last? 

Is it accurate to say race is why Field Yates, Marty Smith, Brian Windhorst, etc. are not on the show? 

If true, isn't it backward to block someone from going on the show because a stranger who looks like them before is on the show?

Please, let me know if any of this is inaccurate.

They did not respond. But not long after, Bill Barnwell, a white male blogger, was added to the show. 

ESPN did not want the article written. We don't blame them. Banning people from a program based on their skin color is racist and, if proven, actionable.

But the height of "Around the Horn" descension came this summer. In May, Caitlin Clark was the most divisive figure in sports. To no fault of her own, she was embroiled in a race war with other black WNBA players who targeted her with hard fouls and slander on social media. 

And yet, David Dennis Jr. appeared on "ATH" to claim that it's Clark's responsibility to stand up for the black woman who bullied her because she was born "privileged."

No, you buffoon, she does not have a "moral obligation" to protect players trying to injure her. Nowhere in the country should that ever be the case. But that very type of ignorance and basic racism has come to define "Around the Horn" in its later years.

Sources tell OutKick that the show has come to frustrate several executives within the company, as its banter frequently runs afoul of the management's edict to tone down the divisiveness.

ESPN should continue to put journalists on television after "Around the Horn" – but journalists who put in the work, are credible, honest, and not simply beneficiaries of DEI. 

We feel for the show's producers who may lose their jobs in the process of the eventual cancelation. However, "Around the Horn" has become an abomination.

Even MSNBC wouldn't proudly promote its pundits defending genocide and downplaying rape on television simply to score political points. "Around the Horn" did – on a sports network.