The current era has a lot of people displeased with media outlets. Sometimes, that even extends to outlets that ask them for their comment and perspective before publishing a piece. And the latest example of that comes from Will Compton of the Barstool Sports-presented Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.
This came in relation to a question from The Washington Post. (The reporter in question isn’t identified) That question was about the reaction Compton and co-host Taylor Lewan had to one particular comment from former U.S. president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during their interview with him this week.
Compton responded to that request for comment with a social media video. There he laid out why he and Lewan reacted the way they did (what the Post was asking for) to a particular comment from Trump about how he would have played football. He then cast aspersions on the Post for asking for his perspective, and gave an official comment of a fart noise (at the end):
BREAKING
The @washingtonpost has reached out to Bussin’ With The Boys requesting a comment on why we laughed at a certain remark @realDonaldTrump made during our interview
Here’s your comment pic.twitter.com/QFj9LnTRmH
— Will Compton (@_willcompton) October 16, 2024
Here’s a transcription of that video:
“All right, as you guys know, our latest episode of Bussin’ With The Boys, we had on Donald Trump. …We knew that there’d be a reaction. Good, bad, the media would have reacted. We are getting our first media encounter. The Washington Post has reached out for comment regarding a remark made during the episode that’s gaining online attention, including from Trump’s opponent in the presidential race.
“The remark that they’re referring to, that they want comment on, is a part of the episode where we’re talking ball and how Trump used to play tight end. I would have locked him up. And he essentially makes the comment ‘I wouldn’t want to get hit,’ or ‘I didn’t want to get hit by somebody who’s been lifting weights all day long and came from a bad neighborhood.’ Taylor and I laughed. They want our comment.
“The question is ‘Why did we find that amusing?’ You already know what they want to do with this thing. You already know what kind of picture they want to paint. You know what kind of box they want to put us in. You know their vision for this entire question on asking that.
“Number one, I thought it was funny because Trump is sitting there admitting that he is not built for the A-gap, nor is he a tight end that was built for catching a slant over the middle only to get his vertebrae, his L4 and L5, compressed by a middle linebacker that probably goes on to play at Nebraska and arguably 10 years in the NFL. But just knowing, you know the direction that they want to go with this thing as they write whatever article they’re trying to write.
“And they asked if Will or Taylor would provide a comment on why we found that amusing. So I’m thinking to myself, ‘Well, I’ll just publicly tell you guys my comment.’ So, Washington Post, here’s my comment about why I thought it was amusing. [Fart noise.]”
The bizarre thing is that this exchange actually shows the value of asking for comment, and that Compton did actually provide his comment and perspective on why he reacted the way he did to Trump’s comments before officially responding with the fart noise. And there’s value in having his explanation of his particular laughter here on the record; opinions can and will vary on if he should have laughed at that remark, but this does illustrate what he particularly says he was laughing at.
And that’s what the Post was asking for. So their request for comment ultimately did prove illuminating, even if that comment was first given to Compton’s X followers and even if it came with the official comment of a fart noise. And this is why asking for comment can have merit. This certainly wasn’t a “must get comment” situation, with the entire comments here from Trump, Compton, and Lewan already in the public record from their podcast, but the ask for elaboration on why Compton laughed did get a response, and a more notable one than the official fart noise.
The fart noise comment’s interesting in its own right. That falls in line with other people and entities that have simply decided it’s not worth putting out their perspective on things in any way beyond a crude form response, That’s been seen elsewhere, including with X/formerly Twitter’s decision last year to shift responses to media requests for comment to auto-sent poop emojis.
That’s absolutely a tack X can take, as is Compton responding with a fart noise here. Private companies and individuals certainly don’t have an obligation to respond to media at all. But what those responses are missing is the purpose of the request for comment, which is far from a gotcha; it’s an invitation to a subject to have their perspective included in a piece before that piece is published.
Compton’s pre-writing of “You already know what kind of picture they want to paint” is also interesting. That certainly seems to be reading a lot into a question about why he laughed, and making a lot of assumptions about what the eventual Post piece will say. And it’s unfortunate he didn’t spell that out more definitively; if he had, we would be able to examine the eventual piece and how it compares to what he predicted. But he’s instead saying he knows how this will go without actually publicly predicting that, making it impossible to fact-check him.
The strange larger thing here seems to be how perplexed Compton is by being asked for comment on an interview with a former U.S. president who is running for that office again. This interview was always going to get attention (and indeed, it already has on other fronts, including the discussion of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and the false claims that she is transgender, which she is suing several companies and people over).
Attention comes with requests for comment. Requests for comment are an opportunity to provide additional perspective and context. And Compton actually did just that here, between his rants about “You already know what kind of picture they want to paint” and before his official fart noise. He’s certainly entitled to officially reply with a fart noise if he wants.
But the comments Compton made before that illustrate the value of media outlets reaching out. And he did in the end provide more explanation for his on-air actions. Even if he criticized the whole idea of being asked for comment, and officially responded with a fart in their general direction.
[Will Compton on X]
