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ESPN’s documentary about the Bubba Wallace noose incident suggests that it is prioritizing activism over accuracy and social media has noticed.
On Tuesday afternoon, the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports captioned a nearly three-minute trailer for the program shared on Twitter with: “Last year, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace’s stall at Talladega Superspeedway. The next day, the NASCAR community stood with him in unity.”
A team of FBI agents investigated the June 21, 2020, incident and concluded that there was no hate crime. Instead, it was a pull-down rope in Wallace’s garage, a culmination which ESPN itself reported.
It is obviously commendable and inspiring that drivers and crews, and many others, immediately rallied around Wallace.
Last year, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace's stall at Talladega Superspeedway. The next day, the NASCAR community stood with him in unity.
"I was like, 'Holy s—, it's the whole garage.' … That's when I lost it." pic.twitter.com/Zh5HWumagX
— ESPN (@espn) December 14, 2021
From ESPN’s standpoint, however, it perhaps may be an example of the motto about never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
According to Outkick media columnist Bobby Burack, “So ESPN lied on Tuesday, hoping its viewers had forgotten about the story’s outcome…Not a single network, in sports or news, is more irresponsible than ESPN is right now.”
Since this incident, Wallace has done well in endorsement deals, along with joining a new NASCAR team sponsored by NBA legend Michael Jordan.
When Jimmy Pitaro took over as ESPN president in 2018 from the very liberal John Skipper, he apparently tried to implement a no-politics policy. That directive evidently went out the window when George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody, resulting in a murder conviction for ex-cop Derek Chauvin.
As a more recent example, three misinformed ESPN analysts thought it was necessary to share their thoughts on the Kyle Rittenhouse not-guilty verdict.
For the past five or more years, ESPN has been losing significant viewership for several reasons, among them, that consumers don’t want politics, left-wing or otherwise, intruding in sports content, but the Disney-owned network seems to have another agenda.
As one indication of the network’s trajectory, recall that despite her progressive bona fides, ESPN host Rachel Nichols found herself on the outside looking in after she was caught on a hot mic criticizing its diversity initiatives, notably because it directly affected her own status.
Insofar as the Bubba Wallace documentary is concerned, many on Twitter suggested that ESPN should metaphorically stay in its lane.
“Holy hell the lie continues! It was a door pull in his garage. Shame on @espn,” Fox News commentator Katie Pavlich declared. “The FBI literally sent 15 agents who confirmed that it was a garage door pull chord that had been there for months. These people want to tear our country apart with their lies,” Greg Price added.
“Totally fake news. Didn’t happen,” ex CIA officer Bryan Dean Wright noted.
“Here’s the biggest sports network in America producing an entire documentary about another race hoax as if it was real,” Jesse Kelly asserted.
Various other conservative influencers also weighed in, with some referencing the Jussie Smollet situation, which in the end, resulted in the actor being convicted of five felony counts in connection with filing false police reports.
So we’re still perpetuating this hoax with a garage pull and didn’t learn anything from Jussie?
mmmk.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) December 14, 2021
ESPN now wants to talk about a garage pull that was mistaken for a noose.
It’s like nobody learned anything from Jussie Smollett. It was only last week. Really?
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) December 14, 2021
Wait am I missing something? I thought this was investigated by the FBI and determined to be a hoax?
— Adam Kuhn (@IamAdamKuhn) December 14, 2021
ESPN is one of those garbage outlets where employees lack both talent and ethics
— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) December 14, 2021
Also from ESPN:
FBI says rope had been in Talladega garage since October; Bubba Wallace not victim of hate crimehttps://t.co/Z0mIQIVxFm
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) December 14, 2021
I prefer the kind of race hustling where guys hustle to win races instead of inciting the races against each other.
— Erik Bootsma🌸 (@ErikBootsma) December 14, 2021
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Robert@bizpacreview.com
Robert Jonathan is a staff writer for BizPac Review. He is a longtime writer/editor for news aggregation websites and has also developed content in the legal and financial publishing sectors as well as for online education. He earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, “a law school the basketball teams can be proud of.”
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