As reported by The Daily Beast, ESPN has decided to cancel new series Barstool Van Talk after only one episode. Though the network didn’t specifically say so, the decision most likely came in response to a few Twitter posts from ESPN host Sam Ponder, who pointed out the misogynistic nature of some of the content on the Barstool Sports website that the show was based off of. Specifically, Ponder took issue with the fact that the site had referred to her as “a chick that has a job where the #1 requirement is you make men hard” and then kept going after her when she criticized the writers for it.
In a statement, ESPN president John Skipper said that he “erred in assuming we could distance our efforts from the Barstool site and its content” when he picked up the show, even though it seems absurd to think that could be true. Either way, this comes shortly after SportsCenter host Jemele Hill was given a two-week suspension from the network for suggesting that fans could avoid buying NFL merchandise if they weren’t happy with owners’ responses to protesting players, so it looks like you can get away with one episode of a TV show on ESPN if you make sexist comments about one of its hosts but you get a suspension if you dare to criticize the NFL.
