It’s been a week since Dan Le Batard decried racist attacks by Donald Trump towards four freshmen congresswomen of color, including a specific mention of Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, on his radio show. His discussion included a scathing critique of ESPN’s policy on speaking out on what are deemed political issues.
In the time since, Le Batard has not been on his radio show or TV show, Highly Questionable, as he awaited a sit-down meeting with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro about his comments. His absence was not classified as a suspension, but rather Le Batard removing himself from the air while awaiting a full conversation about the policy and his future with the network.
On Thursday that meeting took place and according to Andrew Marchand and John Ourand, the two met and hashed things out, with them being “aligned,” whatever that means, on things going forward. Le Batard will return to the air Friday for Highly Questionable and Monday for his radio show.
Dan Le Betard is continuing with ESPN on radio and TV after LeBatard’s meeting with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro, according a source.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 25, 2019
No word if Le Betard will now follow ESPN’s politics policy that Le Batard deemed cowardly last week. The two are apparently “aligned,” a source said, as ESPN and Le Batard try to extinguish the whole issue.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 25, 2019
Dan Le Batard meeting with Jimmy Pitaro is over. He will stay at ESPN. He will be back on "Highly Questionable" tomorrow. He will be back on the radio on Monday.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) July 25, 2019
One would expect Monday to be when Le Batard addresses the issue in full, as his radio show is a much better place for longform thoughts on the issue than his half-hour TV show, and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say on the conversation with Pitaro and what came of it. What’s clear is that ESPN continues to want his presence across all platforms and the company at this point has to understand what that means when it comes to Le Batard speaking his mind.
