Emmanuel Acho created quite the stir earlier this week with his “gender-neutral and racially indifferent take” regarding Angel Reese’s comments regarding online bullying following LSU’s loss to Iowa in the Elite Eight.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Fox Sports 1 host responded to the backlash — of which there was plenty — to his comments, in which he said of Reese, “you can’t be the big, bad wolf but then kind of cry like Courage the Cowardly Dog.”
“I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has respectfully reprimanded me and offered brilliant opinions on the Angel Reese conversation,” Acho said. “I do not believe there is any one way to think about things.”
Acho proceeded to individually name a number of colleagues who he said reached out to him regarding his comments, including Ryan Clark, Essence Atkins, Bozoma Saint John and Matt Barnes.
“I understand. I think life is all about understanding. And so I just want to applaud those publicly, you watching, and those privately who have respectfully — the operative word there being respectfully — who have respectfully reprimanded me,” Acho said. “So I thank all of you all for that. I do not stand on a hill saying, ‘I am right, and you are wrong.’ I simply stand on a place saying, ‘Hey this is what I believe. What do you believe? Let’s listen to one another and construct a collective belief.’ So love to everybody who has respectfully reprimanded me and I appreciate it so so so very much.”
Regarding the Angel Reese dialogue: thank you. pic.twitter.com/SUtjE87iaP
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 4, 2024
Acho also acknowledged in a reply to a follower, “I got a lot of blind spots and wisdom is in identifying them.”
While Acho didn’t appear malicious in his original take, the biggest criticism was that choosing to ignore Reese’s race and gender is to also ignore the realities of the online abuse she was addressing. That appears to be a lesson that the former NFL linebacker has now learned, even if he didn’t say as much while addressing the sizable response to his comments.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.