ESPN has given Curt Schilling approximately 400 opportunities to stop saying horribly offensive things on social media. Earlier this week, Schilling said something really stupid again and, instead of slapping him on the wrist like usual, the Worldwide Leader decided to fire its now former baseball analyst.
To recap, Schilling posted a meme onto his Facebook account a few days ago that had a really disgusting way of looking at members of the transgender community. As usual with Schilling’s social-media antics, people were furious and calling on ESPN to act swiftly and to bring the hammer down on the three-time World Series winner.
And that ESPN did. In a statement published by Richard Sandomir of The New York Times, ESPN reprimanded Schilling for his conduct on social media and formally announced that his contracted was terminated. Here’s the full statement:
“ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”
Sandomir mentioned that he tried to reach out to one of Schilling’s representatives, but no one got back to him. Schilling had claimed that he never posted the image, but based on screenshots that Outsports acquired, we all learned that Schilling wasn’t telling the truth.
Odds are this won’t change anything with Schilling, as his response to the outrage prior to his firing was basically “if you get offended by this, it’s your fault.” But good on ESPN for finally taking a stand and taking a serious action against an employee who apparently never got why people were disgusted by the way he carried himself on social media.
