Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted an apology and reportedly made attempts to contact U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley's officeESPN IMAGES
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has been suspended “for two weeks” after sending a profane response to an email from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), meaning he “will not be reporting again until near the end of the month,” according to Andrew Marchand of the N.Y. POST. Wojnarowski would be able to “return on Saturday, July 25, though it is not fully clear when ESPN started the clock on the two weeks.” The NBA is set to resume on July 30. Sources said that Wojnarowski has “received support from ESPN management, who … are still behind him.” He and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro “have a strong relationship” (N.Y. POST, 7/12). Wojnarowski tweeted an apology on Friday, and in DC, Ben Strauss cited a source saying that Wojnarowski “made attempts to contact Hawley’s office Friday to apologize but did not hear back.” A Hawley spokesperson said that the Senator “was not looking for an apology.” Hawley yesterday tweeted that ESPN “shouldn’t have suspended Wojnarowski but rather should do more reporting on China’s relationship with the NBA” (WASHINGTON POST, 7/12).
POLITICAL ARENA: NBC News' Dylan Byers writes the controversy "throws ESPN, a politics-averse network, into the heart of a political debate." It also "pits a top sports-media insider against a senator who, coincidentally, is a central figure in Washington's battle against Big Tech." LeBron James and other NBA players "have voiced support for Wojnarowski on social media by posting the hashtag '#FreeWoj'"(BYERS MARKET, 7/13). SI.com's Jimmy Traina writes the suspension "is nothing more than a perfunctory move to throw anti-ESPN people a bone, even though that's a useless gesture because people who think ESPN has an agenda will never be happy with anything the network does" (SI.com, 7/13). But WFAN's Gregg Giannotti agrees with the suspension, but "not because I believe that the senator is right or Woj is right." Giannotti: "When you are somebody who is Adrian Wojnarnowski and you have the job that you have and you work for a certain company, you can't respond ‘f-you’ to a senator” (“Boomer & Gio,” WFAN, 7/13).
