Sports commentator Dan Le Batard told his audience that ESPN has quietly reverted to a system where “a whole lot of white people” are hiring and paying “a whole lot of white people,” naming Joe Buck, Pat McAfee, Josh Pate, Rich Eisen, the Golics, Jason Kelce, Peter Schrager and the Mannings as evidence.
“Since George Floyd, the company of ESPN and the country of the United States were promising some sort of change over the last five years,” Le Batard said. “Have you noticed that the people at ESPN who are getting the chances and big money … are Joe Buck, Pat McAfee, Josh Pate, Rich Eisen, the Golics, Jason Kelce, Peter Schrager and the Mannings?”
The claim collapses under basic scrutiny. Stephen A. Smith, who is Black, signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension with ESPN last year and is currently the network’s highest-paid full-time employee, since McAfee operates under a licensing deal rather than a standard contract. Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, both Black, also work under licensing arrangements to host “Inside the NBA” during the Finals. Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr., whom Le Batard cited, returned this year on a minor radio-only deal — the same year ESPN also brought back Black commentator Stan Verrett.
OutKick’s Bobby Burack, who reported the remarks, wrote that Le Batard “selectively cherry-picked” contracts to build a racial-bias argument that “doesn’t withstand even modest scrutiny.” Burack also pointed to ESPN’s post-2020 hiring wave, which promoted commentators including Malika Andrews, Monica McNutt, Elle Duncan, Clinton Yates, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, David Dennis Jr. and Christine Williamson — a pattern Burack described as the network having, for a period, effectively excluded white men from promotion regardless of qualification.
Le Batard’s Own Company
Burack raised a separate issue: Le Batard’s own media company, Meadowlark Media, reportedly has one full-time Black employee, a producer named Roy Bellamy, out of a staff that may run to roughly 40 people, most of them white and mostly male.
OutKick said it sent Le Batard two questions by text on Thursday asking him to address that discrepancy, along with an offer to reschedule a previously arranged interview. As of publication, Le Batard had not responded.
Burack also referenced past friction between the two, noting Le Batard has accused him on-air of “wearing the [KKK] hood” and “trying to hold women in media back,” and has separately criticized other outlets over handling of domestic-violence allegations while, according to Burack, declining to press Doug Emhoff on a reported incident during an interview and having previously employed Howard Bryant, who was arrested on an allegation of choking his wife in public.
Whether ESPN executives respond to the pressure with any change in hiring approach remains to be seen.
