ESPN removes Curt Schilling for season over controversial tweet
Sports media conglomerate ESPN has removed baseball analyst Curt Schilling from the network’s broadcasts for the rest of the 2015 Major League Baseball season in the wake of a controversial tweet comparing radical Muslims to Nazis.
Schilling was initially suspended from coverage of the Little League World Series after he retweeted this photo:
Curt Schilling tweeted this a few minutes ago and then deleted it. pic.twitter.com/utGwlnYfOW
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 25, 2015
“It’s said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists,” the graphic read, backdropped with a picture of Adolf Hitler. “In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How’d that go?”
{mosads}“At all times during the course of their engagement with us, our commentators are directly linked to ESPN and are the face of our brand,” ESPN said in a statement Thursday.
“Curt’s actions have not been consistent with his contractual obligations nor have they been professionally handled; they have obviously not reflected well on the company,” the statement continues. “As a result, he will not appear on ESPN throughout the remainder of the regular season and our Wild Card playoff game.”
Schilling took down the tweet and took responsibility for his actions.
“I understand and accept my suspension,” Schilling said in a tweet Aug. 25. “100% my fault. Bad choices have bad consequences and this was a bad decision in every way on my part.”
Schilling is an analyst for ESPN’s weekly “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast and makes regular appearances on various network programs. He pitched for 20 years in the majors, winning 216 games and three World Series titles.
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