This story is so absurd it’s hard to believe it’s real. ESPN pulled sports broadcaster “Robert Lee” because his Asian-American name sounded too much like Confederate-American “Robert E. Lee’s” name.
In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, Va., ESPN decided to pull one of its announcers from calling a University of Virginia football game — because his name is Robert Lee.
Lee, an Asian-American sportscaster who started with the network in 2016, was moved to a different game “simply because of the coincidence of his name,” ESPN said, referencing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
Unbuhleevable.
Here’s their full statement:
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue.”
uncanny pic.twitter.com/xDUfe1GqQp
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) August 23, 2017
Tucker Carlson talked to the guy who first reported the story:
Amazing.
[h/t short korean burd-lovin fact-checker.]