UPDATED: I guess Jeff saw my story, so he posted an update. No edict as I originally wrote, but ‘strongly discouraged.’
ESPN has yet to make a comment on the video of Dana White altercation with his wife on New Year’s Eve. On ESPN’s First Take Stephen A. Smith offered a company line take on the situation softening the stance of the incident despite falling into the category of domestic violence. A tweet from an ESPN writer notes that the company has issued an edict ‘strongly discouraged’ not to “write anything incendiary” pertaining to the UFC head.
Jeff Wagenheim issued the following tweet on Thursday morning:
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. https://t.co/yE7zPe4fxM
— Jeff Wagenheim (@jeffwagenheim) January 5, 2023
MMA writers not tied to ESPN have issued their own opinion of the situation including Ariel Helwani and Luke Thomas. Both takedown White’s actions. Helwani went at White harder since he saw it much more personal as the two have been at odds for years.
On the other end, Kevin Iole offers an embarrassing column defending White in the guise of chastising him.
Payout Perspective:
Should we feign outrage here or are we all smart enough to know how this works? White’s UFC is making ESPN a lot of money. In prior earnings calls, Disney (ESPN’s owner) has praised the UFC for aiding it with its digital platform ESPN+ as it is reaping the benefits of the revenues the promotion is making. Certainly a time for crisis communications for the company. Yet, they have remained silent on the news story and haven’t been critical about White’s actions. Only offering Smith’s commentary noting he is a “friend.” Unfortunately for those wanting some sort of social justice out of the situation, we have to realize that outlets like ESPN are mere entertainment centers seeking to profit as much as they can for the owners and shareholders. If something bad occurs, and this is bad, they have a team of PR people that will soften the blow regardless of the consequences others not related to their profits would face. It is not fair, but it is the tradeoff people make for money.
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