“Mike and Mike” is frequently known as ESPN’s safest show, so much so that it’s where Roger Goodell goes for image rehabilitation (and possibly lapdances, according to Bill Simmons) and that it’s been derided by Colin Cowherd as “Mickey and Mickey in the morning.” On Thursday, though, Mike and Mike created a firestorm thanks to guest host Bomani Jones wearing a “Caucasians” t-shirt that parodied the Cleveland Indians’ name and logo. Someone higher up at ESPN apparently wasn’t a fan, according to TMZ:
Sources tell us, “ESPN freaked out” and asked Jones to cover up his shirt. We’re told midway through the show, BJ slightly compromised and partially zipped up the front of his hoodie … hiding part of the image.
…A rep for ESPN tells TMZ Sports, “As the show progressed, we felt Bomani had made his point and had openly discussed why he was wearing the shirt, and we wanted to keep the focus to the topics of the day.”
Jones later said on Twitter that his bosses asked him to reply to requests for comment with only the video clip of him discussing the shirt on the show:
ppl emailing asking me for comment: my bosses asked that i reply to said requests with this. https://t.co/82zPoorcUx
— bomani (@bomani_jones) April 7, 2016
ESPN certainly doesn’t like getting involved in anything controversial, so we’ll see if any further action is taken against Jones here. This appears to have worked out well for the t-shirt maker, Shelf Life Clothing, though: their site has crashed from the attention they’ve got in the wake of this.
[TMZ]
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