ESPN recently came under fire for failing to discuss the recent “slap” incident between Dana White and his wife. People claim that ESPN failed to report the story because of their affiliation with the UFC.
Now, a startling disclosure regarding the company’s stance on that situation has been revealed by ESPN writer and editor Jeff Wagenheim. Employees were warned not to “write anything incendiary” about the event on social media, according to Wagenheim.
Wagenheim then underlined that not all ESPN staff had the same views on domestic abuse.
He tweeted: “We’ve been told to not write anything incendiary on social media about the Dana White situation, and I understand why and have abided by that. I just ask y’all to understand that some of us at ESPN do not have as soft a take as this on domestic violence.”
After that went viral, Wagenheim clarified that no directive from ESPN’s upper management about the incident had been given.
Given that White is a business partner, employees were discouraged from generally posting anything offensive on social media.
“Clarification: There was no edict from ESPN bosses regarding the White situation, but in general we are strongly discouraged from incendiary posts on social media, and with a business partner things are sensitive. My bad on the wording. (The thought that follows still stands.)”
When ESPN eventually covered the story, Stephen A. Smith said that he had consulted White before talking about it on “First Take”.
Stephen A. Smith has long been represented by Endeavor – UFC’s parent company and as such can hardly be unbiased.
Smith stated: “I think it’s important, if you’re gonna sit on this platform, you owe it to your audience to be honest. Dana White is not just somebody I know in sports…he’s a friend, I love him…”
“he knows how wrong he was to do this and he knows we’re on-air, he knew ahead of time because I reached out to him to let him know I would be talking about this this morning. He knows he crossed a line that he has never crossed before.”