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ESPN finally released a response on Monday to UFC President Dana White, who on Friday – three days before the network released a statement – called famed MMA reporter Ariel Helwani a “shower.”
ESPN and UFC are partner companies, with the former holding exclusive rights to UFC pay-per-view events. This could explain why the network is dragging its feet to issue a statement. Regardless, he received a considerable backlash, even among his own reporters, for refusing to support Helwani after White’s comments.
The network released a two-sentence statement to USA today, who said, “Ariel is a valued colleague and an exceptional MMA journalist. His track record speaks for itself.”
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White’s comment stems from an Instagram post shared by Helwani at the end of last week. In it, Helwani criticized former MMA fighter Gina Carano for comments on social networks she compared contemporary criticism of political opinion to the beaten Jews in Nazi Germany. Carano’s post has since been deleted, but the actress – who also echoed former President Donald Trump’s election fraud allegations in the 2020 election – has been fired by Lucasfilm from her role on the Disney + series. “The Mandalorian”. She has also received public feedback for the post.
Like Lucasfilm, ESPN is owned by Disney.
“Obviously, I am very disappointed with what she posted,” Helwani, a Jewish man, said in the Instagram video. “To be honest, I don’t agree with a lot of things she’s posted over the past year.
“This latest article essentially comparing being a Republican in America or having a certain political vision of being Jewish in Nazi Germany during WWII is stupid. It’s an absolutely crazy comparison to make. .. The Gina that I knew at the time that day was a warm, warm soul. I just hate to see what happened. When she posted this – for me – it was a real disappointment. was very disappointing. “
White, also a Trump supporter, defended Carano at UFC 258 while challenging Helwani’s post; he said “it was all for him”.
Neither Helwani nor White responded to ESPN’s statement.
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