Dan Le Batard’s scathing criticism of the network he works for apparently didn’t get him suspended, but it did cause him to miss his radio show on Monday morning.
Le Batard decried Donald Trump’s “obviously racist” attacks on four Congresswomen of color last week and criticized ESPN’s policy of not allowing its employees to speak about politics unless the athletes they cover address it first. Le Batard, the son of Cuban immigrants, was highly critical of Trump’s statements on immigrants and that ESPN requires a “meat shield” by way of athletes speaking politically before the company’s employees can address it.
According to the New York Post, those comments landed Le Batard in talks with ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro over the weekend that ultimately caused him to miss his radio show on Monday.
Le Batard’s decision comes in the wake of his comments about President Trump and the “Send her back” chants at a rally directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somalian refugee-turned-American citizen. Le Batard’s words were clearly in violation of ESPN’s politics policy under Pitaro.
Le Batard is expected to be on his formatted television show, “Highly Questionable,” Monday afternoon. The plan is for him to return to radio on Tuesday.
According to The Washington Post, Le Batard had not been officially suspended.
Le Batard appeared on his radio show Friday, and as of Monday morning, he had not been suspended, though discipline still remains a possibility. One person with knowledge of the conversations between ESPN and Le Batard said, “They made it very clear to him that they weren’t going to tolerate this. They just couldn’t suspend him, but he got the message.”
Le Batard is known for speaking his mind and bucking rules for the sake of making a point. He famously, for example, gave his Baseball Hall of Fame vote to a Deadspin reader poll, getting him banned from the voting pool. But Le Batard’s point, though certainly valid and has drawn plenty of attention, doesn’t seem to be inspiring change at ESPN just yet.
