The corporate press is rapidly being overwhelmed by “wokeness.”
Sadly, the same holds true for sports media.
And the cancel mob just collected one more scalp at ESPN.
ESPN has been hemorrhaging money as viewers are both “cutting the cord” of traditional cable and getting fed up with the rise of wokeness in sports.
In response to the new media landscape, ESPN has gone through a series of layoffs, most notably axing several conservatives from the network.
And now liberals are being devoured by the woke mob.
Rachel Nichols, host of the NBA show The Jump, recently found out the hard way.
Nichols first became persona non grata when leaked audio from last year revealed that she was frustrated by losing her NBA Finals hosting gig (which was in her contract) to colleague Maria Taylor because the network went full woke after the death of George Floyd.
Six weeks after the incident blew up, Nichols has effectively been let go from the network.
From Breitbart:
“Nichols still has a year on her contract, but…she will no longer appear on ESPN in any capacity after the next few episodes of The Jump air. Further, The Jump will be canceled once the last few shows in the can have aired.”
Nichols’s liberal bona fides didn’t save her after the audio came out; she was instantly branded a racist.
Whenever Nichols tweets, she gets inundated by woke leftists coming for her head.
Live by the woke, die by the woke.
Dave Roberts, ESPN’s senior vice president of production, confirmed to Sports Business Journal, “We mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned…Rachel is an excellent reporter, host, and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content.”
Nichols tried to save herself by apologizing for the audio comments, but it wasn’t enough to save her.
Since ESPN’s hard left turn, it was only a matter of time before the mob came for her.
ESPN has been trending woke probably since naming Caitlyn Jenner Athlete of the Year for coming out as transgender, but the political messaging ramped up after Colin Kaepernick began the anti-American anthem protests.
Play-by-play announcer Mark Jones said he would cancel his stadium police escort because he didn’t want to be short for being black.
Jones’s comments were even more ridiculous considering the stadiums were empty due to COVID restrictions.
Jones also celebrated when Trump-supporting defensive Nick Bosa tore his ACL against the New York Jets.
During an NBA broadcast, commentator Jalen Rose screamed for the Louisville police officers who shot Breonna Taylor to be charged with murder.
The Left has become more radical, and they’re nudging center-left liberals to the extreme.
Nichols wasn’t leftist enough, so now she’s gone.
The purges at ESPN and other outlets will continue until all employees are true believers, or they’re all willing to bend the knee to the Church of Woke.
