During ESPN’s upfronts on Tuesday in Manhattan, ESPN president John Skipper talked with some reporters about some of the hot button topics circulating the company as of late. One of those topics was the firing of Curt Schilling, and his accusations that ESPN was more tolerant of liberal viewpoints than conservative viewpoints.
Skipper responded to Schilling’s comments by championing diversity and inclusion while dismissing a possible political bias.
But when pressed on Schilling’s accusation, he said, “No. We have no tolerance for points of view that aren’t inclusive. We have a diverse culture. We are very focused on making sure everybody can exist comfortably and succeed in that culture.
“That’s what we have no tolerance for and I don’t care of what the politics of a person who has such an attitude are.”
Why do I have a feeling this is going to turn into a back and forth centered around “being tolerant about intolerance”? There’s really nothing too ground-breaking about what Skipper said here – believe what you want to believe, as long as it’s not hateful. If that’s considered “anti-conservative” or “controversial” in the year 2016, we’ve reached a new low.
[Newsday]
