ESPN Yanks Announcer Because of His Name
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ESPN says that they will not let one of their announcers called Virginia football games, simply because of his name.
Really?
The NY Daily News writes that ESPN has decided to pull college football announcer Robert Lee from covering a Virginia football game this season due to the simple fact his name is Robert Lee, the network announced on Tuesday.
Lee, of course, shares the same name as former Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Despite this Lee, who is Asian-American, sharing no heritage to the former military leader of the Confederacy, ESPN reportedly believes the fact they share the same name is grounds enough to remove him from covering the Virginia-William & Mary football game this season.
ESPN announced in a statement they came to an agreement with Lee to make the switch in the wake of the events in Charlottesville, where a white nationalist plowed his car into a crowd of people, killing one and injuring 19 others.
"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."
Lee is now assigned to work Youngstown State at Pittsburgh on Sept. 2, airing on ACC Network, according to Sports Illustrated.
