ESPN's Moment Of Silence Protesting 'Don't Say Gay' Resurfaces Ahead Of NCAA Tournament
This week, a clip from ESPN's coverage of the 2022 NCAA Tournament resurfaced on X in which the network held a moment of silence in protest of the Florida parental rights bill, the bill erroneously dubbed "Don't Say Gay."
Watch the now-viral clip below:
While the clip flew mostly under the radar at the time, it comes into particular question today. Just two months ago, ESPN network chose not to show the moment, or the national anthem, ahead of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the site of which a deadly terrorist attack on Bourbon Street occurred just a day prior.
Instead, the network broke into commercials.
ESPN initially blamed a "timing issue" for the decision. Then, after weeks of criticism, ESPN Vice President Burke Magnus acknowledged the decision and called it a "horrible error" and a "terrible mistake." He said the decision falls on the "people back in Bristol" and that ESPN should be "held accountable for" that.
Fair.
However, the fact that showing the anthem and moment of silence in New Orleans – on that day - was ever a decision underscores the culture inside ESPN.
At the network, talent and producers are more focused on denouncing a bill protecting second-graders from sexual indoctrination than showing their respects to terrorist victims in the homeland.
And that falls on ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro, who has enabled an uber-toxic culture after vowing to "keep politics out" of the brand. As per our column, Pitrao caved following the death of George Floyd in 2020. ESPN has never been the same since.
Further, the protest was not the only time ESPN broke away from its live sports of the tournament to express its resentment of a bill blocking teachers from talking about sex with little children. That same year, ESPN anchor Elle Duncan also took time to protest the bill:
Months prior, Duncan reportedly and successfully pressured management to remove Sage Steele from a social justice special because Duncan felt Steele's "blackness" was in question.
She's a gem.
Still, if you think ESPN has learned from disrespecting the terror victims, consider that anchors like Eunuch Stan Verrett have continued to call the terror attack a "truck attack."
Take a look:
Those damn self-driving trucks.