The former Seattle Times sports columnist who left the paper after it shelved a column on transgender athletes has found a new home.
Matt Calkins, who resigned from the Seattle Times last month after 11 years at the publication, has been hired by the Fox News-operated OutKick, according to a report by Ben Mullin in The New York Times. Calkins went public with the reasoning behind his departure last month, explaining the decision was “entirely [his] choice” after the Times chose not to run a column he had written chronicling the perspectives of two female students who were opposed to competing against transgender athletes.
Calkins wrote at the time, “it was one of several pieces of mine that had been spiked, and I no longer felt like I could properly do my job as a columnist.”
It didn’t take long for OutKick founder Clay Travis to reach out to Calkins, telling the writer he might have a job for him at his new venture, Sport & State. However, Travis’ old shop, OutKick, ultimately signed Calkins, who will write multiple columns each week for the outlet. Per Mullin, Calkins said he chose OutKick “because it offered him freedom he felt he didn’t have at The Seattle Times.”
The move comes as OutKick looks to redefine itself post-Travis. The right-wing sports and politics site recently rebranded, debuting a new logo and further integrating itself into Fox News Digital.
For Calkins, OutKick marked a logical next step for his career given his ideological alignment with the site.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.