ESPN pulls announcer from Virginia CFB game because he has the name of a Confederate general
In a strange twist of events, ESPN announcer Robert Lee has been removed from his assignment in Charlottesville, where he was supposed to call an upcoming Virginia game.
Due to recent protests in Charlottesville, ESPN thought having an announcer who shares a name with a Confederate war general wasn’t the best idea.
In an announcement released on Tuesday night, the network explained the decision to switch Lee to a new game:
Here's the statement from ESPN PR: pic.twitter.com/VWuRQLwQvi
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 23, 2017
Lee has been with ESPN since 2016 and will continue to call games for the network, though presumably not in Charlottesville for the time being.
Broadcasting assignments are switched around by networks all the time, but this is one of the more unusual reasons for making a change.
ESPN added that Lee said he’d feel more comfortable not going to Charlottesville, and that played a role in the decision:
Company says that Lee (a young broadcaster who works for ESPN3) was more comfortable not doing this assignment.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 23, 2017
What assignment Lee will now have for Week 1 remains to be seen, but it appears he’ll be calling a game somewhere that weekend.
When the Cavaliers kick off their 2017 campaign against William & Mary, the game will still be broadcast by the network, but someone other than Lee will be in the booth.
The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Did it “become” an issue, or did ESPN make it one?
And this is what you call “letting the terrorists win.” It’s not ESPN’s fault, nor Robert’s, that he shares his name with the confederate general. ESPN should have just left everything as it was.
If its true that it was his idea, its a good call. If he felt uneasy about being there, it could’ve affected his performance. Only he knows if it bothered him so it should be trusted.
If ESPN approached him, bad form. His name should not be used to hurt his career opportunities.
He’s acting like one of these young snowflakes that get upset over everything. He felt unsafe over his name? The guy is an Asian-American that I’d say 99% of people had no idea what he looked like before this (I had to Google him) and I couldn’t imagine anyone would see him and instantly make a correlation between him and General Lee.
This has to be one of those ‘satire’ pieces, right?
Prime example of why everyone says that ESPN is getting too political. Bunch of snowflakes being snowflakes. That includes Lee for feeling unsafe over his name.
You mean too far left.
It’s a shame ESPN made it an issue. I’m named after an Old Testament figure in the BIBLE, uh oh am I allowed on the internet with all the Jew hating, Christian hating, Muslim hating, atheists of this world.
Don’t like the color Pink will that get you banned next. Purple, like that color uh oh you’re to psychotic.
There is no end to this PC crowd.
I hear there is a photo circulating of Lee Corso riding a horse that looks a lot like the one general lee is riding on that statue. Better pull him from games this year. He has the double whammy of having lee in his name and that damn horse look alike.
Did you see where USC has started a stink over the horse that’s ridden, whose name is Traveler? Robert E. Lee’s horse was named Traveller with two L’s. There is zero correlation with the trojan’s horse and the confederate general. Sh*t’s beyond out of hand. There is no turning back at this point.
The inmates are running the asylum.
This is not about Lee or ESPN, it’s about the incredible politicization of race in this country. It’s gotten to the point of hysteria, people are being blamed for things they have no control over, had nothing to do with, or would ever. I do not blame Lee if he feels uncomfortable, CarolinaPhoenix got it right. The race terrorists have won, and as long as they hold the upper hand, the race trump card will be played.
Agreed
I am so thankful I am Native American, Maybe you blacks and whites will kill each other off and my people will get their land back…
Not likely Chief. After that happens it will be the United Ststes of China.
The truth is that blacks and whites aren’t killing each other at a high rate. The black violence is almost exclusively black on black. I’m not sure of the stats on violent crimes from whites, but my guess is that a very high percentage of it is against other whites. And yes, I do assume that you were kidding for the most part.
Kidding? Absolutely! life is precious…
First soldier in the US 7th Cavalry killed at the Little Big Horn was…….. an African American under Reno’s command. It’s not just us against them, it’s us against us against us………
We just had a president with the middle name of HUSSEIN.
I don’t blame the guy for being uncomfortable but hopefully he realizes that this perpetuates the situation. Somebody’s got to stand for something or this never ends…
Someone needs a Kotex.
Slow news day? Football is only about a week away, so surely you can come up with something better than this. Hey, how about writing something about part of the ACC and the Big 12 also being in the South and us Southern brothers should stick together? Or, should you continue to be a prick about it?