Axios reporter Alexi McCammond tweeted on Tuesday night that Charles Barkley told her, “I don’t hit women, but if I did I would hit you.” McCammond claims that when she objected, the NBA legend and TNT analyst told her that she “couldn’t take a joke.”
Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight “I don’t hit women but if I did I would hit you,” and then when I objected to that he told me I “couldn’t take a joke.”
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
In a follow-up tweet, McCammond explained that “it was all because [Barkley] came in talking about how he loves Deval Patrick, and once someone from Pete’s [Buttigieg] campaign came around he said he loved Pete and I reminded him he previously said he was a Deval fan.”
McCammond also provided a photo of Barkley at the campaign event.
There are almost no times I will beak an OTR “agreement” but this is not OK. And it was all because he came in talking about how he loves Deval Patrick and once someone from Pete‘s campaign came around he said he loved Pete and I reminded him he previously said he was a Deval fan
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
Here’s a pic (albeit dark and blurry) if you need more. pic.twitter.com/Ad32cMemiv
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
I hate being part of a story so here’s a reminder that this is so much bigger than me: nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the US. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence https://t.co/eqgn0McbYt https://t.co/nll7a0rv2o
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
It’s not about me or my feelings — tho I’m grateful for the many friends who have reached out. But it’s about refusing to allow this culture to perpetuate because of silence on these issues. It’s easier and less awkward to be silent, but that helps NO ONE but the perpetrator.
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
I encourage you to consider how you’d respond if a friend said something similar to what Barkley said tonight. And then challenge yourself to ask the same of yourself if a stranger (or “celebrity”) said that. I hope the answers are the same. Everyone should be held accountable.
— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019
So, this is definitely not okay and definitely not something to “joke” about. And as others have chimed in on Twitter, unacceptable comments about women are nothing new from Barkley.
The first serious conversations about domestic abuse in sports were sparked in 1990 by Barkley's comment about beating his wife. A year later, he spat on an eight-year-old girl during a game. A year after that, Nike featured him in the famous "not a role model" ad. https://t.co/xJSbFNKZie pic.twitter.com/Ahfq6JxL3T
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) November 20, 2019
Barkley once told a room full of people at a NABJ panel in 2017 in New Orleans that Black women shouldn’t report sexual harassment/assault until they’re in power positions at the work place. https://t.co/nHDjF36SJ1
— Carron J. Phillips (@carronJphillips) November 20, 2019
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1197013217593171968
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1197013932495581186
Expect a statement soon from TNT/Turner Sports (Update: Turner Sports and Barkley released a statement).
