ESPN Suspends PTI’s Tony Kornheiser
The Big Lead is reporting that ESPN, the World-Wide Leader in (Selective) Political Correctness, has suspended Pardon The Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser for his comments last week about ESPN SportCenter anchor Hannah Storm.
Tony simply stated his opinion about an outfit Storm had worn while anchoring the morning edition of SportsCenter last week:
“Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She’s got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt … way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now. She’s got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body … I know she’s very good, and I’m not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won’t … but Hannah Storm … come on now! Stop! What are you doing? … She’s what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point.”
Does ESPN really want to turn into my Church of Christ high school that held us all to a strict dress code: girl skirts had to be below the knee, long pants, guys hair had to be above the collar (they would pull the wave and curl in our hair down to see if we were in violation, which lets this curly headed fro-boy in a world of trouble. A battle I won though)? I doubt it.
Tony should be able to say what he wants about ESPN talent without fearing the corporate reaper.
Hannah does come across as an aging cougar attempting to squeeze into Britney Spears’ costume from her vintage rookie music video for ‘Oops I Did It Again,’ but she is visually refreshing between all of the repetitive sports highlights on SportsCenter AM.
ESPN should just steer clear of what its anchors are wearing in much the same way that Fox News does with their buffet of lip-glossed blonde bombshell hosts.
The ‘Worldwide Leader’ should avoid becoming ‘Big Brother’ and give its talking heads freedom to talk. Just months ago ESPN banned Bill Simmons from Tweeting after his Tweet about an ESPN affiliate.
The length of Tony’s suspension will likely only be a few days. Kornheiser apologized to Storm via his radio show the next day.
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He should have the right to say anything he wants and she should be able to wear what she wants. But why would you want to air your personal opinions about someone clothing choices on air ? Especially since they seem to be based mostly on age. Would he be saying this if she were 25? Who is he to determine what is appropriate dress for a woman her age when he doesn’t even know how old she is?
[...] Either way, it’s safe to say that for this guy to make disparaging comments about the way someone looks is a major irony overdose. Throw in a little sexism and you’ve got a pretty healthy scandal. [...]