After the events in Charlottesville, Va., ESPN chose to pull one of its broadcasters from calling a University of Virginia football game – in light of the fact that his name is Robert Lee.
Lee, an Asian-American sportscaster who began with the ESPN in 2016, was moved to an alternate game “essentially due to the occurrence of his name,” ESPN stated, referencing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
On Aug. 12, “savagery” broke out at a protest from a white-patriot gather contradicting the expulsion of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville. A driver slammed his car into a horde of counter-protesters, murdering one woman and harming more than twelve other individuals, police said.
ESPN, which has confronted accusations of liberal inclination that a few people think has prompted a downtick in viewership, said it moved its host to the Youngstown State game at Pittsburgh.
The system’s full statement: “We made the decision with Robert to switch games as the sad occasions in Charlottesville were in progress, simply because of the coincidence of his name. At that time it felt ideal to all of us. It’s a disgrace this is even a subject of discussion and we lament that who calls play-by-play for a football game has turned into an issue.”
